What a Classic Cliché
by goldensnitch18
Summary: As Hermione prepares for the trio's upcoming departure from Hogwarts, she discovers two unlikely allies in a morose Slytherin Head Boy and a cross-dressing ex-Potions Professor. Canon through HBP, and parts of DH.
1. Ch One: Beauty and Ron

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Summary : I've decided to take all the 'classic' D/Hr FF moments and compile them into a massive horrendous lump of fluffy/smutty/laugh at yourself for reading this fanfiction. Read. Enjoy. Laugh. Cry. Review! I'm acknowledging the sixth book, but not the seventh really.

Disclaimer : I ain't even British, Fool ! And I'm filling out college applications ... somehow I think that means I don't actually own anything let alone these characters . Duh . ! .

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The Sudden Beauty

The bustle of the shop startled Hermione as the door chimed above her, alerting the staff to her arrival. Immediately an uncountable number of heads, nearly all perfectly groomed, turned in her direction. Upon seeing her, they all turned back to their jobs at hand, whether it be cutting, styling, coloring, or sweeping. The only eyes which remained upon her were the two creamy silver orbs staring at her from behind red glasses. The nose beneath these eyes was slightly upturned the mouth was stuck in a perfect 'O'.

It took one glance around the room for Hermione to reconsider her former decision. She had so many better things to be doing right now. She could be reading her Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7 for example. There was so reason to be here. She gripped the cold metal door handle and prepared to shove it back to offer her an exit, when her eyes fell on the mirror across the room. She sighed as her image became clear and she remembered exactly why she was here. It was for Ron, of course. The git had mentioned her 'reliable bush of a head' when he had been talking to her and Harry the night before. She had decided that if she wanted Ron to ever come around and get down to asking her out, she would have to make concessions. She would need to become more, for lack of a better word, girly.

The thought alone nearly made her cringe. "Bloody Hell." She murmured to herself as she crossed the shop, littered with children and disheveled husbands. She marched straight up to the girl who was still staring at her and put on what she hoped was a cheery smile. "Hello!" She told the girl and then fell silent.

"Welcome to Sabrina's Salon and Day Spa. Who are you here to see today?" As she spoke, Hermione took in her appearance in further detail. It seemed that she was nearly manequin. Resentment began to grow in Hermione's stomach for this girl even though she had no idea who she was. Her hair seemed to fall in all the right ways. Her nails were perfectly manicured down to the very last trimmed cuticle. Her lips were glossed evenly from edge to edge. Her face was clear of any signs of teenage stress. Her body seemed to be that of Aphrodite's herself.

"I, actually, was hoping to be able to walk in." Hermione said politely, dragging her attention back to the task at hand, Ron.

The girl sneered even more and even this appeared to be attractive. "Actually, we don't do walk-ins. But, since this is obviously a..." She trailed off here for effect and flicked her eyes across Hermione's hair once more, "Emergency, I'll see what I can do. Go ahead and sign in and I'll try to find you a stylist." She didn't wait for Hermione to respond before she turned swiftly and headed away from the main desk. Hermione wrote her name on the register and watched the girl drift from desk to desk, talking to each stylist, male and female alike. Each time she spoke, two sets of eyes would wonder in her direction, the stylist would shake their head no and the girl moved on.

After the fourth time this happened Hermione was losing her nerve, but she suddenly saw the girl smile and a stylist that hadn't shook their head immediately. Instead, he grabbed a calendar and flicked through it. They spoke for a few more minutes and then the girl returned to the desk. "Can you wait for thirty minutes? Jacques said he'll take you but he has an appointment right now. He should be done by eleven."

"Okay. Yes." Hermione said meekly and picked her way between the children playing in the waiting area. She found a plush red chair and picked up a magazine with carious hairstyles in it. Most of them were two high maintenance or just plain scary, but there were a few natural styles she liked. She spent most of the hour thinking about how Ron would react when she returned to the Burrow that night with her new hairstyle. What would she do if he hated it? Or if, worse, he didn't even notice?

"Her-my-knee Granger?" Her head shot towards the desk and her eyes fell on the stylist who had agreed to take her on. He looked at her like a child who had found his lost dog and Hermione considered apparating out of the room full of muggles for a single moment before following him to his chair. "So, Darling, What are we looking for today?" He asked and if she hadn't been so preoccupied with her nerves she would have laughed at the cliché of a man standing before her in leather pants that made his but look better than any girls' ever had, holding a comb, and speaking with a slur.

"I, actually, I don't really know. I was just hoping … something different." She watched him again and followed him as he set the comb down to grab a cover for her to keep the hair from her clothes.

"Different is imperative, we both agree on that one. Do you have any ideas about length?" He asked adjusting her hair, holding it back and then pulling it up and letting it fall down, giving her the image of a lion covered with a mane of unkempt curls.

"I want it long!" Hermione said quickly as if terrified that he was going to shave her head and hand her a wig.

Jacques nodded behind her and patted her hair back down to its previous state of bushiness. "We can work with that, but what exactly do you do about the frizz normally?"

"Um … Nothing, really. I'm pretty busy, so I don't take much time to …"

"Sweetie, We need to have an important talk then." He cut her off without even bothering to try to listen to her. "I can fix your hair and make it sleek and straight, or give you frizz free bouncing curls, but if you aren't willing to put a little maintenance into it, you will end up with this mane back in less than a month, okay?"

"Oh, I can do that. But I go to, um, boarding school, so…" She trailed her sentence off one her own that time and waited for him to get what she was implying.

Jacques smiled at her then and shook his head. "Don't worry babe, when I'm done with you, you're going to be a bloody genius at your own hair. We can more than tide you over until you get back on break."

* * *

The Inevitable

Hermione tried to sneak into the Burrow when she got back that night, but unfortunately Harry saw her just as she was disappearing up the stairs and yelled for her. She considered ignoring him and racing up the stairs, but prolonging the reaction would only make it worse, so she yelled back and stayed in her place on the stairs. "Hey, Harry." She called and bit her bottom lip. 'Just go back to chess.' She whispered to herself and then cursed herself as he showed up at the bottom of the staircase and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Hermione?" He asked and she blushed. She could feel the heat spreading through her cheeks. "What in the world?"

"I, uh, got a haircut." She told him, too embarrassed to acknowledge that she had done much more than get a haircut.

Harry climbed the few stairs to be even with her and broke into a smile, that made her smile as well. It was rare to see Harry smile these days. "You look really good. Wait till Ron sees you. He's going to choke on his own words." Hermione felt her cheeks heat again and pulled a hand through her curls. They were bouncy and sleek, two words she had never attributed to her hair. Jacques had turned her hair into another creature altogether and she had stared at herself in the mirror for ten minutes before she could speak.

"Thanks, Harry." She said simply and he seemed to break out of his shock long enough to realize he hadn't meant to be talking about her hair.

"I stopped you because Ron's been looking for you for three hours. He and Mrs. Weasley haven't stopped pacing since you dissapeared. He's in his room, if you want to let him know your back." Hermione didn't respond. Instead, she climbed the stairs to Ginny's room and deposited her things on her bed and sat next to them for a moment. It took her nearly five minutes to work up enough courage to make herself get up and walk to the door. She took the stairs two at a time after that to get to Ron's door and once there she held her first in front of it. After a few seconds of composing herself she knocked softly and heard Ron shuffle off of his bed to come open the door.

It swung open quickly, quicker than she had expected and Hermione was thrown off by the combination of this and Ron staring at her wordlessly. "Hey, Ron. Harry said you were looking for me."

This seemed to wake Ron up. "Yes, I was looking for you. We're in the middle of a bloody war and you went out to get a haircut?"

"Well, I mean, I went to Muggle London, and it's not like Voldemort is looking for me in Muggle London. I had Harry's cloak, too, and I apparated, so..."

"So, You could have been killed, Hermione! What am I… What are we, supposed to do if you go get killed for getting a bloody haircut?" Ron was shouting now, and Hermione was sure his family could probably hear him, no matter where they were all hiding in the house. She pushed her way past him because of this and he shut the door, spinning to stare at her in continuing disbelief. "He killed Dumbledore, Hermione, and all you can think about it getting a new …"

"Ron! Shut up! I know it was stupid, okay. I know, just stop yelling about it okay." Hermione pleaded with him, touching his arm to get him to come back to earth.

"Why? Why would you even do that?" He couldn't come up with a single sane reason for why his best friend would have run off for this when she obviously wasn't a fashion conscious girl.

She mumbled something inaudible and Ron stared at her, his mouth falling open. "I said," She began, louder this time. "You said my hair was a bush." She stared at the floor and kicked it with the front of her socked foot.

"Since when do you care what I say about your bloody hair, Hermione?" Ron ran a hand through his own hair then, disbelief etched across his face very clearly.

"Since, Always, you idiot." Hermione replied, shaking her head. Her new curls bobbed around her head and Ron smiled for the first time.

"It looks really… nice." Hermione hadn't hoped for much and this was better than she could have expected.

"Thanks, Ron." She grinned at him and her hand moved down to grip his hand.

He sighed and squeezed her hand in his. "I was just worried about you, I mean you just vanish and Ginny says you're off to get your hair done."

"I'm sorry I worried you." She said even though she was actually ecstatic that he had worried.

Suddenly, He seemed very uncomfortable and he squeezed her hand again. "It's only, that, well …" Hermione could hardly contain the giant grin fighting to come forth. This was it. This had to be it. The moment that everyone had been waiting for since, well, forever. "It's just that I really, I really care, a lot, I mean I like you, Hermione, and I don't want anything to happen to you."

He was no Shakespeare, that was sure, but it didn't really matter to her. She didn't love Shakespeare, she loved the boy standing in front of her right now, and she had been waiting for this since she was thirteen years old. "Ron, I really like you, too." She said, tracing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Yea? I mean, yea." He grinned, the big grin that she herself had been holding back, and hers escaped, too. The next thing she knew they were both laughing, and then standing there, together in an awkward, but happy, silence. "I, I want to kiss you." Ron said suddenly and Hermione felt her stomach disappear and excitement flutter in her heart.

"Okay." She said and then in the most amazing moment of her life, his free hand was on her cheek and his lips were on hers. Hermione's hand found it's way to his back and then moved together as a fire spread from their lips through their body's. Ron backed away, there forehead's still together, and she felt his breath as he spoke.

"We have time before dinner." He told her, and she immediately giggled, one of those stupid giggles she had heard idiot girls give boys, but when it came from her in that moment it didn't seem so idiotic, and Ron didn't seem to think so either. She led the way to his bed and they lay down next to each other, still holding hands. At first they were happy just to be by each other, aware now that they had finally put everything out there, that they were finally a pair, a Ron and Hermione.

Then Ron's free hand moved from her shoulder, grazing her waist and then resting at her hip. Hermione scooted closer to him and kissed the corner of his mouth softly once and then responded eagerly to the pressure he applied. The same anxious fire filled them as they explored the first stages of their relationship. After a few moments, Ron bit on her bottom lip softly and she opened her lips as a moan of pleasure escaped her in response to his roaming hand reaching her breast. His tongue started on her lips, requesting permission she'd given ages ago, and then made its way into her mouth, teasing her own tongue. Everything about the moment was perfect.

"Ron," Someone was knocking on the door. "Mum says it's time for dinner." Fred, or maybe George, Hermione was too preoccupied to care.

"Okay, Coming." Ron called back, his voice a little heavier than usual.

"Do you know where Hermione is?" The twin called back and Ron smiled as Hermione fought the urge to laugh.

"No, I'll try to find her." Ron called back and then he swooped back down to kiss her one last time.

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Okay … That's the first bit …

I really appreciate reviews, the good and the bad. And, yes, this is Draco/Hermione, I promise (!), just be patient ! You know how much I love them ...sigh

Meg


	2. Ch Two: Start of Term And a man?

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer : Once again … this nonsense is my nonsense based on someone else's brilliance.

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September 1st

Hermione awoke on the morning of September 1st with a body against hers and an arm around her waist. In the fog of early morning sleep she knew that it was Ron and turned towards him, only to feel him tighten his grip on her. Her smile spread as she felt him beginning to stir next to her. "Morning." He grunted, the single word barely distinguishable.

"Morning." Hermione said back and then, in that instant, her early morning sleep fog faded and she realized that she and Ron were still in his back yard. They had fallen asleep under a blanket why they had been trying to get away from the rest of his family. If they were awake, if they had realized that Ron and Hermione were missing, what would they all think? "Ron!" Hermione sat up then and looked around as if expecting the Weasley's and Harry to be standing over them, laughing or yelling at the two of them. "Ron, it's morning, we have to get back inside."

It took Ron a little longer to figure out why Hermione was so worried about the fact that it was morning, but once he got it, he held the idea fairly firm in his mind. "Mum is going to kill me! She's going to think we were out here… well…" He half laughed as they began to fold up blankets hastily and Hermione couldn't help but grin as well. As wonderful as the night had been it certainly hadn't been THAT kind of wonderful, but she could easily see Fred and George never letting them live it down if they didn't get in the house before everyone woke up.

As Hermione started to walk towards the house, she felt Ron grab her hand and pull her back to him. "I'm already dead." He mumbled before their lips met and she dropped the blankets in her hand to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back just as eagerly.

"Don't ever leave me." She mumbled between their advances and he hugged her to his chest.

"Hermione, I'm not going anywhere." She nodded against his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of his beating heart against hers. "Unless we don't get in the house now, then I might be locked in my room for the next year, in which case you'll be leaving me." She laughed at this as she helped him grab the blankets she'd dropped. They crossed the yard quickly and at first sight, it seemed that they had beat everyone up, but alas Molly Weasley was not easily fooled.

"Nice of you to finally come home, Ronald." He looked in the corner of the kitchen at his mother as his face turned pale.

"Hey, mum. We, uh, fell asleep outside."

"Hey, Ron. Did you two crazy kids have fun rolling around in the hay last night?" Fred's voice joined the room as he walked in from the living room. Hermione blushed immediately and Ron looked at his brother, clearly not thankful for the comment in front of their mother.

"Fred, sit down and eat your breakfast. You two go take a shower and then come eat."

"Mind you use two separate showers; we still have one innocent soul left in our poor young sister." Fred suggested, grabbing toast from a pile in the middle of the table and starting the smear it with jam.

"Fred Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley snapped at her son, and turned back to Ron and Hermione. "Go, now." She told them, and they left, neither of them wishing to stay in that room a moment longer.

* * *

The Train Ride

"You lot be careful." Mrs. Weasley looked over the four of them and sighed. "I can't believe you three are in your last year." She shook her head and kissed Ron and Ginny on the cheek before giving Hermione and Harry hugs. Mr. Weasley and Remus Lupin, looking gaunt and sad, stood beside her. A few members of the Order were placed strategically away from them, watching, waiting. They wouldn't move until Harry was on the train and gone from the station for sure, until they saw it with their own eyes.

"Mom, we'll be home for Christmas, We have to go." Ginny told her and the four of them waved on last time as one by one they climbed onto the train, Hermione fumbling with her badge in her pocket, her fingers running over it continuously, as if to assure herself it was really still there. Once on the train, Harry and Ginny found them a compartment and Ron and Hermione made their way to the front of the train. Hermione left Ron at the Prefects Compartment and went into the one directly in front of it.

She was slightly surprised to see Draco Malfoy sitting in all his glory there upon a seat, as if he was king of the world. She had hardly expected him to be back at Hogwarts at all, let alone back as Head Boy. "Granger." He said acknowledging her existence. "Congratulation on discovering the use of a hairbrush."

Hermione ignored him and thought, 'Some things never change,' to herself, before dropping into a seat across from him. A moment later, as if it had been waiting for her arrival, a letter appeared before them floating in mid air. Hermione grabbed it, after waiting to see if Malfoy would even make an effort, which he did not.

"Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy,

First, I would like to once again extend my congratulations on you receiving this great honor for your final year at Hogwarts. I expect nothing but the best behavior from both of you as you perform your duties in a civilized and adult manner. For the time being, you simply need to make sure that the new prefects understand their duties and responsibilities and set up a rotation for rounds on the train. The password for the Prefects bathroom is Phoenix Tears. Please meet me after the feast at the Head table.

Yours,

Headmistress Minerva McGonagall"

She finished reading the note aloud and they both stood to leave the compartment without sharing another word. As they walked to the Prefect's compartment, all she could think about was what Harry was going to do when he saw that Malfoy was back. She smiled at Ron as they entered the compartment, but he hardly noticed as he was staring at Malfoy with contempt and pure confusion. He wasn't the only one. It seemed that each and every one of the Prefects was in a small amount of shock at the site of the boy standing beside Hermione.

Deciding to ignore this, Hermione began to speak, hoping that everyone would just pay attention to her. If she gave Ron long enough to get over his own shock his would make a scene and probably do something stupid. "Right, Well I'm Hermione Granger, for those of you who don't know. I'm Head Girl this year. First off, I just want to congratulate you all. It's really an honor to be made a Prefect. Younger students and your peers alike will be looking up to you to help and guide them throughout the year with all sorts of different matter." Pansy Parkinson snorted softly at this and Hermione had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes at the pig. "But, it is important that you all understand that just because you have your status now, does not mean you are invincible. If the Head Boy or I feel that you are abusing your powers in any way or that your grades are suffering because of your duties than we may put you up for review to the Headmistress and she can replace you at any time throughout the year. Also, the Professors have the power to put you up for review to the Headmistress as well."

Most of the sixth and seventh year's looked bored, but Hermione knew that she could not excuse them simply because they had heard this speech two or three times now. She looked over at Malfoy at this point to see if he was going to pitch in, but he was standing against the door, watching Pansy Parkinson pick at her nail polish.

"Your duties as a Prefect are to help each and every student in Hogwarts regardless of age or house. If you have a problem or a situation where you cannot help a student report this to the Head Boy or I and we will deal with it from there. Also, feel free to talk to any of the other Prefects and see if they might be able to help you. You do have the power to give punishments if you think they are deserved, but they will be reviewed by one of the Heads and the Headmistress, so be sure that you are not being unfair."

"With your place, also comes a few perks. Your curfew is extended an hour past the other students, except on nights you have rounds, in which case your curfew is extended two hours. If you have rounds you must attend, or forfeit your position as a Prefect. If you need to miss rounds for any reason you must find a replacement from your house and have the replacement approved by a Head. If you are found abusing your curfew privileges you will be put on suspension from your duties."

"The Prefects bathroom is also for Prefect's use only. The password is Phoenix Tears. If you are found giving the password to any other student, not a Prefect or Quidditch Captain, you will be suspended from your duties as well."

"We will have a meeting sometime in the next week to give out your schedules for rounds, but for now the Head Boy and I will be taking care of this. During the rest of the train ride today, you all need to make sure to do a patrol every once in a while. Does anyone have any questions?"

One of the new Prefects, a boy Hermione had never seen before, raised his hand and she nodded for him to go ahead. "Your Harry Potter's best mate, yea?" He asked and Ron rolled his eyes and glared at the boy.

"Are you serious?" Malfoy sneered at the boy, speaking for the first time since they entered the compartment. "Does anyone have any real questions?" When no one answered him he left his place and slid the door open. "You may all leave then." He was gone in the next instant, followed by the rest of the students, except Ron.

"You did great." He told Hermione and she shook her head.

"I can't believe he's back, Harry is going to KILL him." She closed her eyes for a moment and blew out a breath. "We don't need this right now." She felt Ron's arms around her in the next moment and she instantly felt better.

"Just ignore him, Maybe no one would notice if Harry killed him, they might even give him an award for ridding the world of its biggest git." Hermione laughed into Ron's shoulder and he kissed her cheek. "Come on." He said a moment later, pulling her by her hand to the door. "We better get to Harry before Ferret does."

* * *

The Chambers

The Start of the Year feast was a somber affair that year for the Golden Trio. Harry spent the entire time glaring across the room at Draco Malfoy. Hermione spent the entire time trying to convince Harry to stop glaring across the room at Draco Malfoy. Ron spent the entire time trying to distract both Harry and Hermione from the existence of Draco Malfoy. And, behind all of this was the realization that this was the last Start of the Year Feast they would ever have inside the walls of the Great Hall.

After the food and dessert had vanished from their table, Professor McGonagall introduced an impossibly skinny woman with beautiful black hair as Professor Eddings, who would be taking over as the Defense teacher that year. Hermione noted that Slughorn was also sitting at the staff table once again. She also explained to the students that the school was under even more protections this year and that the Professors would be making no exceptions for curfew or rule braking of any kind, and that if anyone felt inclined to be brave or test the Professor's limits they would find themselves suffering the wrath of McGonagall herself. It was not funny, and not a single student in the hall seemed to think that she had been joking. Hermione imagined that quite a bit of the usual horseplay would not be an issue in the coming year.

After she finished her speech, the Headmistress excused the rest of the students and with a kiss on the cheek to Ron, Hermione walked in the opposite direction of the flow, towards the Head Table. Once she arrived there, she found Malfoy standing next to McGonagall, waiting for her, silent as ever.

"Mr. Malfoy tells me the meeting on the train went well?" The headmistress asked and Hermione nodded in agreement, not trusting herself to not snitch that Malfoy hadn't done a single thing for the meeting, or to not ask the woman if front of her, whom she had always respected and looked up to, why on earth she had made the boy beside her Head Boy. "Good, now, Mr. Malfoy and I need to have a talk with you Ms. Granger, and I think it would be best if we went somewhere more private."

Hermione did not really understand what 'Mr. Malfoy' could know that she would need to talk to him and the Headmistress about but she followed her through the Great Hall, nonetheless. They walked for an eternity it seemed, as the silence caved in on Hermione, but finally they reached a Tapestry of a very ugly Faerie looking longing at a man washing his face in a river. Hermione had never seen a tapestry quite so strange in all her years at Hogwarts, and she looked uncertainly at the Professor, who had stopped before the tapestry and was looking at the Head's in a very somber manner.

"Ms. Granger, I need you to know that when you walk in here you are going to see something very shocking and I need to know that I can trust you to remain calm. May I have your word of this?" Hermione was beyond confused now, but she nodded nonetheless, wondering why Malfoy was not going to be shocked by what was behind the tapestry.

"The password for now is Beedle; you may change it together by placing your wands on the tapestry and saying the same phrase or word at the same moment." As soon as the Professor had said the word Beedle, the Tapestry had rolled up to reveal a door.

"The password for what?" Hermione asked, not able to hide her confusion any longer, but she received no answer, except for the Professor putting a key into the door. The small tunnel that they walked through then was dark, but it was clear that the room beyond, a room that Hermione could easily lose herself in for weeks without emerging, was brightly lit by floating candles, randomly throughout. Each and every wall of the room was lined with book shelves, which were filled with book upon book upon book. In the center of the room was a large wooden table with a chair on either side facing each other. From the left, center, and right, stair cases led to places that were hidden from view.

None of this registered with Hermione at all as horror made its way through her body, horror at the sight of the man sitting in a plush chair before a roaring fire. "No," She whispered, her mouth dry as her eyes filled with tears. "Not him." She added looking desperately at the Headmistress hoping that this was a joke, a misunderstanding, anything that would explain the presence of the man was now standing to face the three new arrivals to the room.

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A/N … I'm curious to see who you think the man is . Very curious indeed . Thanks for the reviews and alert adds from chappy one ; ) I really appreciate them .

Meg


	3. Ch Three: Spies

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer : uh, you know the drill …

* * *

Reunited

"Ms. Granger, I am offended. I had such high hopes that you would be delighted at my return." Severus Snape, stood before the fire like a giant bat, his sneer clearly showing his own displeasure.

"Severus." The Headmistress reprimanded the man, but it went unnoted by him, as his face continued to stick in it's permanent position of disdain. "Hermione," The informal name surprised her when coming from her Transfiguration teacher, but nonetheless she looked away from the murderer before her to her Professor. "I know that you must have a million questions, but for now I need you to listen to me and ask questions later."

"Okay." It was a show of her loyalty to McGonagall that she didn't run to get Harry in that very moment, but instead she stood her ground and waited, for what she was not sure.

"You are going to be living here this year, Ms. Granger."

"But, there is a Head's room in Gryffindor Tower." She replied, not able to keep her urge of correction down.

"Yes, this is the Head's library, Mr. Malfoy's room is in the Dungeon's, down those stairs to the left and your room is up the stairs on the right. There will be a portrait inside your room that will respond to the same password you and Mr. Malfoy have chosen at the time for the tapestry outside in the hall. But, what is important right now, is that because you will be living not necessarily with Mr. Malfoy, but in close proximity, we felt that you would feel safer knowing the truth." McGonagall gestured at Snape then, and Hermione couldn't help but scoff.

"I know the truth. I heard the truth the same as you, last year. This IDIOT," She pointed her arm straight at Malfoy without even moving her eyes to take him in for a single moment. "Let in a load of his death eater friends and then chickened out on his 'task', so this TRAITOR," She dropped her first arm and her second moved to point at Snape, once again without looking at him, "killed Professor Dumbledore. I don't need to know any more than that. I will not live with him able to climb the stairs to my room and try to kill me as well, not that he would actually have the backbone to do it!"

"Ms. Granger, That is quite enough of your…" Snape had no chance to finish his thought as Hermione began to yell. "YOU stop! YOU have no right to speak to me, to speak to anyone who trusted and believed in Professor Dumbledore. You do not deserve to even stand in this school after what you did!"

"Hermione!" McGonagall reprimanded her in the same tone that she had used to speak to the man just minutes before. "Severus Snape is no traitor, I assure you of that."

Hermione looked from McGonagall to Snape as if they had both lost their minds. "What have you done to her?" She asked, turning once again to the man, who shook his head and moved to the table in the center of the room, where he took one of the seats.

"He has done nothing, but I need you to calm down and listen to me." McGonagall spoke softer than Hermione had ever heard her speak before and it scared her into keeping her silence for the time being. "Dumbledore was dying. I do not know why, or how, or what the circumstances of his coming to know that he was dying were, I suspect it has something to do with the injury we all were witness of at the beginning of last year. I only know that Professor Dumbledore told me there would come a time when he would be dead in the near future, and that it would be of his own doing. Nevertheless, I still believed that he had been murdered last year when Mr. Potter witnessed his death, but I know now that it was more than that. Professor Snape has since convinced me that his death was pre-conceived as a measure of giving Mr. Malfoy a way out of his assignment that we are all very aware of now. Professor Dumbledore was going to die either way Ms. Granger, and this is the way he chose. I …" She faultered at this point and looked at Snape for a log moment before continuing. "I trust Severus Snape, as Albus Dumbledore once trusted him and I would like for you to be able to do the same. He is hoping to be of a small amount of assistance to Mr. Potter in avoiding the advances of You-Know-Who through you, as Mr. Potter will not be made aware of any of this."

"What? You want me to lie to Harry, as well? He is my best friend. He is going to …" She stopped herself suddenly. She had been about to tell them all that Harry was going to have to defeat Voldemort one day, but as the trio were the only three people alive, to her knowledge, that were aware of this now, she decided that it would be wise to keep that to herself.

"Ms. Granger, What if I told you that I know what the rest of that thought was to be?" Hermione stared at her old Potions Professor and didn't speak. There was no way he would know. No one would know. No one, but her and Harry and Ron, and that was it. "I can help, with that. I don't know everything, not ever little detail, but I know enough, and I have my reasons for wanting to help. I cannot reveal myself to your Precious Potter, because in still miserable at Occlumency and the Dark Lord is still able to see his thoughts as easy as ever."

"What reasons?" Hermione asked, not even bothering to think that he might not want to share them with her.

"They are my reasons alone, Ms. Granger and will remain as such." Snape folded his hands on the table before him and stared at her, unblinking.

"Then I will not let you 'help' Harry through me. If your reasons are good enough, then they would be enough to convince me, shouldn't they? You tell me why I should trust you and him," Once again she pointed at Malfoy, "And perhaps I won't walk out of this room and tell anyone and everyone I meet that Severus Snape is sitting at my library table."

"You would be obliviated before you took a single step, Ms. Granger." He looked unsure for the first time in his life to Hermione's recollection. "Shall we go to your office then, Minerva?" He said at last.

"Why?" Even Professor McGonagall seemed disturbed by this idea.

Snape pushed himself away from the table and walked towards them. "I shall have to take Ms. Granger on a trip down Memory Lane, unfortunately." As he walked he took his wand from his pocket and waved it in front of himself, murmuring all the while. To Hermione's horror, the skinny, black haired Professor Eddings was standing in front of her once again.

"Oh my …" Hermione trailed off as Snape looked at her, his feminine features hiding any trace of the hook nosed man. Hermione had been practicing small adjustments to Harry, Ron, and her own appearances over the summer, just in case, but nothing she could manage would even begin to compare to what Snape had just done.

"Shall we then?" Snape asked, his voice a bit deep, but not unfeminine. It was one of the eeriest things Hermione had ever seen.

* * *

An Agreement

Hermione stood watching a begging Snape plead with Dumbledore, as another Snape, in the form of a beautiful woman stood beside her. "You were in love with Harry's mother." She said softly, not even attempting to conceal that she had never thought him capable of loving anyone but himself and his 'Dark Lord."

"Yes." He told her, his voice, even feminine, contained enough ice to keep her from prodding him further as they returned to the present, where McGonagall was waiting with Draco Malfoy. "Do you have enough evidence then?" He asked her softly and Hermione nodded.

"I …" She had no idea what to say. She wasn't sure what this meant really. He loved Lily Potter that was sure. He had betrayed her and her family when Harry was only a baby, but he felt remorse, that much was evident from his last memory that she had just left. "I'm sorry." She said simply and waited, unsure, confused, lost in her own thoughts, trying to latch on to something to make sense.

"I do not need your pity." Snape told her and she was silent. "I simply need you to allow me to continue doing what I vowed to do sixteen years ago."

"Yes, of course. I won't tell him, I promise." She added, remembering his desperate request that Dumbledore tell no one, most of all Harry.

"We're done for tonight then. I'm going to bed, Minerva." Snape told them, making his way out of the room, without another word to either of the students.

"Hermione, I need you to trust Snape, and understand that Malfoy is here under my protection. No one in the Order knows why he was allowed back, none of the staff, none of the students, and I hope you will keep it that way."

"But,"

"Ms. Granger, not even Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley. Let them think what they will. It's all connected at this point. Mr. Malfoy is here because it is what Professor Dumbledore would have wanted. Mr. Malfoy knows of Snape's secret right now, and if an Order member was to find out... If someone discovers that Professor Snape is still inside these walls…" She trailed off and in that moment she looked older than Hermione had even seen her before.

"Okay." Hermione said simply and nodded. "I promise I won't tell a soul."

"Then take these, the keys to the door behind the tapesty. Keep them safe. Don't give them to anyone, obviously. As of now, you two and I are the only three people with access to your Library and I hope that you have the sense to keep it that way."

* * *

To Bed

Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger walked to their rooms together, but did not speak a word to each other. Hermione was still unconvinced that there was a real reason for having Malfoy in the school in the first place, but she supposed that McGonagall and Snape must have their reasons.

When they reached the library, Hermione gave the password, waited for the tapestry to roll up and then opened the door behind with her key. She led the way through the dark tunnel to the Candle lit room beyond and realized for the first time that she had no idea where the center staircase led. She approached it without bothering to tell Malfoy to stop following her and climb the stairs to another door, which she pulled open to reveal a bathroom. This made Hermione frown. She had hoped that she would have her own bathroom, but it seemed that they would be sharing this one, but as far as bathrooms went it was actually fairly marvelous. She noticed that it resembled the Prefects bathroom she had been using for the last two years, except that their was room for two people to keep their belongings here permanently.

Malfoy was standing beside her silently, looking at the room as well, a frown on his face where his smirk usually was positioned. "You don't get it do you?" He suddenly asked and she jumped slightly as he had startled her.

"Get what exactly?" Her voice was cruel, but she didn't care enough to change it.

"I'm here so that the two of them can make sure that I'm not ratting Snape out to anyone back home. It took Snape nearly three weeks to convince my parents and the Dark Lord that I needed to come back. I still don't know how he managed it. I didn't even know what was going on until this morning, before I left for the Express. I'm also collateral in case anyone gets smart. All he has to do is threaten to kill me and my parents will do whatever he says." Malfoy turned away then and started to walk towards his room, but Hermione's curiosity floated out of her mouth in the form of a question. "What will happen to you if they find out that you know Snape is loyal to the Order?"

"They will kill me." He told her, and shut his door, locking her away from him. Hermione understood now that Malfoy was a prisoner, and the reason for informing her of everything she had learned that night made even more sense. She could now be another pair of eyes watching Malfoy, waiting for him to try to get a message to his parents or to Voldemort.

* * *

A/N … Thanks for the reviews and alert adds : ) I'm sooo glad all this nonsense is out of the way and I can start focusing on Draco and Hermione … hells yes .

Meg


	4. Ch Four: The First Day

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I'm simply an addict trying to get my fix … not the supplier.

* * *

The First Day

The next morning, the first day of classes, Hermione woke early as she always did on September 2nd. Since her very first year, she had woken earlier than practically the entire school and spent the few hours before breakfast reading up on whatever class struck her fancy at the time. This year, Hermione decided to take a shower before Malfoy had a chance to even wake up, therefore forgoing the argument that was sure to arise if she waited until he was awake.

As she washed away the previous day, Hermione thought about several different things that were on her mind. First, she wondered if Ron and Harry had worried about her. She had meant to stop in to see them the night before, after she'd gone to her room and changed into her pajamas, but instead she had been so wrapped in her thoughts that she had pulled out her Hogwarts, A History and fallen asleep reading it in her window seat. By the time she had woke again, she knew that Ron and Harry would be asleep, so she moved to her bed and slept the few hours until dawn.

She thought about Snape then, and the images that he had showed her last night. She felt … not dirty, but certainly wrong knowing these things about the Professor. He had done what he had to convince her to trust him, but now that she knew, she wished that he could have done anything else to prove himself. She knew that it was wrong of her to keep information about his mother from Harry, when he was so desperate to know what his parents had been like, but at the same time she had promised Snape that she would keep his secret. What had Dumbledore said? That he would never reveal the best of him. It was ironic that for so many years Hermione had imagined Severus Snape to be more monster than man, but in one night her entire view had changed of him. He was still the most pompous, rude, arrogant Professor she ever had the displeasure of studying under, but he was also a person, something she had never imagined him to be.

And then Draco Malfoy floated through her mind, as if latching onto her thoughts of the Professor. She felt pity for Malfoy, more than anything else. She tried to imagine being in his position, but she couldn't. She liked to think that she would never be the kind of person that Malfoy was, but she couldn't help but wonder, if the tables were turned and she had been raised to hate him, would she have been able to rise above? She liked to think so, but in reality it wasn't likely. It wasn't an excuse for Malfoy's behavior, but it was the facts, the cold hard truth. She then tried to imagine what it would be like to worry about your own family killing you, but this was something she couldn't even start to create in her mind. Her family, whether her own or Ron's, would never do such a thing, but if they could, even if they were capable, it seemed unreal that anyone could kill part of their own family. But, with a cold laugh, Hermione remembered that Draco Malfoy's family had no problem killing or disowning each other, as was proved by Sirius mother and his dear evil cousin.

As she left the shower, Hermione's only thought was that she was never going to have a normal year at Hogwarts. She dried herself off, put on her school robes, and spent the next forty minutes going through her daily hair treatment, and then trying out the makeup Ginny had bought her as an early birthday present. It seemed an awful lot to her for less frizz, but Ron loved her new hair, so she continued to take care of it. Also, it made her feel special that boys were actually stopping to look at her now. She had seen their eyes on her on the express and in the Great Hall the night before. Even though she had Ron and she wanted no one else, it was nice to know that other male students found her attractive for more than her usefulness as an encyclopedia and her close friendship to Harry Potter.

"Granger, What in the hell are you doing in there? I've been waiting for half an hour!" A voice came from outside the bathroom door and she saw her cheeks tinge a soft shade of red.

"Just a minute!" She called out, gathering her things and putting them into her drawers and cabinets. She hung her towel on the rack beside the shower and opened the door to leave. "Sorry, I didn't think you would be up this early." She told him as she walked passed and he scoffed, shutting the door behind him without a word.

Hermione went down into the Library, deciding to check out the collection there for a few hours until Harry and Ron would wake up, and she could go to Gryffindor tower to go down to breakfast with them. She ran her fingers along the bindings of book after book after book as she walked along the walls. Each shelf was so tall that it reached the ceiling, and she had no way of knowing what was on those shelves, but that was something she could worry about another day. Today she just wanted to start reading, something, anything that would make her feel like she was getting something out of this collection of books hidden away for her and Malfoy. She finally decided on a book called, Magical Aquatic Creatures by Herbert Yetsly.

She was so absorbed in her reading that when Malfoy walked past her in only a towel, she didn't even noticed. Instead she read page after page of the book in front of her, marveling at the fact that there were magical creatures hiding all over the world. It was a wonder that Muggles had never caught on to the secret world that surrounded them at all times, but she supposed that it was just a case of people believing what they wanted to believe. After all she herself had been oblivious for eleven years.

At quarter to nine, she went back up to her room and put her book into her bag. She left the rest of her things behind, since she didn't know which classes she would have for that day yet. She then went through the second door in her room to the Gryffindor tower and walked down the stairs. At the bottom she found Seamus and Dean looking as if they were still sleeping. "Hey, Hermione." Dean grumbled under his breath and she laughed at him.

"Hello, guys. Are Harry and Ron still upstairs?" She asked after a quick look around the Common Room.

"Yea, Ron was up for hours wondering where you were. I'm fairly positive he convinced himself you'd run off or something." Seamus told her and she suddenly felt guilty for getting lost in her book the night before.

"Thanks." She told them, walking towards the boys' dormitory.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted as she walked into the seventh year room. "Where did you disappear too?" He wrapped her in his arms and they kissed softly.

"McGonagall had to talk to us and show us our rooms. It's in Gryffindor tower, but it's connected to this beautiful Library that I share with Malfoy. I was reading this book this morning, and I couldn't believe what was in it. There is so much information in that room, I almost feel bad keeping it all to myself." Harry chuckled at her from his bed where he was pulling on shoes. "Seamus told me you thought I had run off."

"Yea, well, I figured you'd be back so I waited, but finally Harry and I got tired."

"I'm sorry." She told him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I've been up for hours, but I knew that you both would still be sleeping."

"It's okay. I'm surprised you didn't rush down to get your schedule." He teased her.

Hermione pulled away from him in mock hurt. "I wanted to come see you first, but I suppose…" She trailed off, starting to leave the room, but Ron grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek.

"I'm just teasing, I'm glad you came to get us, first."

"Can we go now?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes at them both of them, not waiting for an answer before leading the way down. Ron and Hermione followed him, fingers locked together, as the Trio made their way down to the Great Hall for Breakfast.

* * *

Arithmancy

Hermione had taken out Numerology for the Future as soon as she arrived in Arithmancy, her first class of the morning. She was reading over her end of the term notes from the previous year when a bag fell on to her table and a body fell into the chair beside her. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked Malfoy, a serious yet cautious tone coming through.

"There are six of us continuing Arithmancy this year, Granger, and I'm not likely to be stuck with a the other bloody idiots in here. I know that you'll do your work and we may as well be partners as we will obviously both be doing our work in our library this year anyway." Draco pulled his own copy of their textbook out and a quill.

"You are not going to be my partner, Malfoy. Just because you might get killed or something doesn't mean I feel bad for you at all. You're a bloody arse and you …" Hermione stopped talking immediately when Professor Vector walked into the class and smiled warmly at them.

"Hermione, Draco, It's so good to see you both. Had a good summer, yea?" Hermione immediately smiled at her and nodded.

"It was great, Professor, thanks."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you've partnered up for the year. If only more students could put their rivalries behind them, but I'm glad to see it from you two." Her smile made Hermione's guilt grow immensely.

"I was just telling Hermione that. As Heads it is our duty to spread inter house unity." Draco said his voice pure sickeningly sweet venom. At that moment Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott entered the room together and distracted the Professor, which Hermione used as an excuse to hiss, "Don't ever call me Hermione, again," in Malfoy's direction. His only response was a look of feigned shock.

"Here I am spreading Inter House Unity and you can't get past childish grudges. Really, Hermione, I thought better of you." Hermione shook her head and shifter her attention to Hannah and Ernie, who had taken the two seats at table on her side.

"Hermione, I heard you and Ron are together, finally!" Hannah gushed after their initial hellos and Ernie laughed.

"Yea, It's been a month on Saturday." Hermione replied, blushing and happy to have someone to tell her good news to that didn't already know. She hadn't really had to tell the Weasley's or Harry, they all just accepted it and moved on with a few teases here and there, but now that they were back at school Hermione found herself getting in touch with the giddy teenage girl within.

"That is sooo sweet. Susan told me she saw him kissing you on the train, but I didn't believe he'd actually worked up the nerve." Hermione could tell she was teasing from her kind tone and she laughed with Hannah freely.

"He was so nervous. I never thought he would spit it out, but he did, and it was all so perfect." As Hermione finished her sentence the last two members of their class, Terry Boot and Morag McDougal walked in and took their seats.

As soon as their books hit their desks Professor Vector stood from her desk and began to speak. "As delighted as I am to see you all back, we need to start our lesson today. First you all know of course that you will be taking your N.E.W.T.S this year, and I expect you all to get top marks on your Arithmancy, so we will start where we left off. Open your texts to page fifty-seven and begin to evaluate the number chart on that page for your partner. This will take the next few lessons at least, so if it's a bit slow at first don't get frustrated."

* * *

The Gryffindor Common Room

"Ginny! That is so horrible!" Hermione was leaning back against Ron, holding her number chart for Malfoy in the Gryffindor Common Room late that night.

"I don't really think it's that horrible. Just tell Professor Vector his number chart said that his family is a bunch of Death Eaters who want you dead. She can't fight the facts! Numbers are numbers." Ginny tried her best to keep a straight face, but she was failing miserably.

"Why do you have to be his partner anyway?" Ron asked her, slightly put off. "First you two are going to be sharing some secret Library and a bathroom, which is complete rubbish, and now he's making himself your partner in Arithmancy? What is he playing at exactly?"

"Maybe he's just being his git of a self," Harry offered. "But, I doubt it. He has to be up to something. The whole situation is odd. I mean what exactly is he doing here anyway? He should be locked away somewhere in Malfoy Manor hiding from the world, and instead he's Head Boy? What's McGonagall playing at? Maybe you could refuse to live in your room, Hermione. Just tell McGonagall your moving back into the seventh year girls' dorm. She can't fault you for not wanting to live with a murderer."

"He's not a murderer, Harry, and I'll be fine." She knew the moment the words were out of her mouth that they were a bad selection.

"He may as well be a murderer, Hermione! He almost killed Katie and Ron last year, and he was trying to get at Dumbledore all year."

"Well, I mean, when McGonagall talked to us, there were things, I mean…" She wasn't sure what to say to them at this point. Sure she didn't exactly like knowing that Malfoy could come barging into her room at any moment, but really it wasn't like he was going to kill her. Malfoy was too weak to be a killer. He was a scared little boy playing dress up with daddy and his daddy's friends. That was all.

"What things, Hermione?" Ron asked, his breath tickling her ear. "You've said that three times today, what exactly happened last night?"

"I, well, I can't tell you, exactly." Hermione spoke softly then, hoping that perhaps they wouldn't hear her, or that they would drop it, but their reactions were exactly as expected.

"We're your best friends, Hermione." Harry told her.

"You said you could always tell me anything." She heard from behind her and she felt like Ron's words were stabbing into her heart. She wanted to tell them. She wanted them to know everything she knew, but she couldn't explain that she was practically babysitting Malfoy for Snape, without telling them everything.

"I'm sorry." She turned as she said this to face Ron. "Really, it's just, McGonagall …" Ron didn't seem impressed with her lame apology and truth be told, neither was Harry, Ginny, or even Hermione herself. "Look, I'm going to go up to bed, okay? I'll see you tomorrow. Just trust me, I'm fine. Malfoy won't do anything to me." Unless he want's Snape to kill him, she added to herself. "We have our first Defense tomorrow and after Ginny told us about her first class, I want to make sure I've skimmed my book again before I do my rounds and go to bed."

"Okay." She could tell immediately that Ron was only agreeing to this because they were in the common room which was hosting about fifteen other people at the time. She knew that the next time they were alone they were going to talk about this again. "Why don't we go to the lake tomorrow during our free period?"

"You were going to do your Potions homework." Ron reminded her and she shrugged.

"It's not due until Monday. I'll find time to get it done this weekend."

"Okay." Ron kissed the side of her mouth and she hugged him, before standing up to gather her things.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." She told Harry and Ginny, who both looked as put off as Ron, but smiled nonetheless, and she walked up the stairs to her dormitory.

A Little Surprise

Hermione left her things in her room, but went down the stairs to the library, hoping to find Malfoy there. She needed to talk to him about making the Prefect's schedule. If they didn't do it soon, McGonagall was going to have both their heads. But, when she reached the library, Malfoy was no where to be seen, not that she was surprised really. Malfoy didn't really seem like the type to worry about his classwork on the first night back.

So, she reluctantly made her way down his staircase for the first time. It took her a couple minutes, but she reached his door eventually and knocked on it without a second thought. It wasn't like she wanted to have a chat with him, she actually did need to know when they were going to make the schedule. She heard a rustling from inside his room, followed by a girl's voice calling his name in clear protest. By the time the door opened, Hermione didn't need to see Pansy Parkinson lying on Malfoy's bed, her clothing certainly disorderly, to know what was going on.

"What do you need, Granger?" Malfoy asked, and she noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. It wasn't that it was exactly appealing to look at Malfoy without a shirt, but it was actually very appealing to look at Malfoy without a shirt, and Hermione forced herself to look at his face to keep him from catching on to the fact that even though she hated him, she was female and she had noticed that he wasn't half bad looking.

"What happened to Hermione, Draco? I thought we were really getting close earlier today, weren't we?" She asked him, attempting to sound as serious as possible, and Pansy snorted, but Malfoy looked back at her and she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. It was obvious to Hermione that Pansy was pissed out of her mind that he had opened the door at all when it could have been no one but Hermione standing outside to talk to him.

Malfoy smirked as he looked back at her and ran a hand through his blonde hair, ruffling it enough so that a few strands fell into his eyes. "Sorry, Hermione." She knew that he found the same amount of humor in this as she did with one look at his smirk, half of which was looking more like a smile. Hermione had a good feeling this had more to do with Pansy putting him in a good mood than her own presence. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to make to Prefect's schedules for rounds. I just wanted to set up a time with you to get together and work on it."

"Well," He looked back at Pansy once more, who was glaring at him, seemingly aware of his next move, before even Hermione. "I guess give me ten minutes and we can work on it." Hermione watched Pansy stand up, quicker than she thought possible and cross the room.

"Draco?" She demanded and then turned to look at Hermione, obviously not wanting the know-it-all intruding in her private conversation. Hermione took this as her cue to leave but she heard the conversation as she made her way back up to their library and it pleased her to know that she had ruined Pansy's night. "But, this is our first night together. You were doing who the hell knows what all summer and last night you were off with her and McGonagall, now you run off with the same mudblood the first chance you get? What the hell?"

"Pansy lay off it. It's duties, and unless you want Granger to give you the shitiest schedule ever I had better …" She had walked to far from them at this point to hear any more, but it was enough to cheer her up from her semi-argument with her friends just minutes before to know that Pansy was going to be miserable tonight and Draco probably wasn't going to be getting lucky any time soon for deserting her. It was a win-win situation for Hermione, no matter what.

* * *

Scheduling

The schedule took them two hours to finish, even with a copy of the previous years schedule. They had to factor in the schedules of each individual student, their houses, their personal issues with each other, and their own desires to do rounds with certain people. They had decided in the very beginning that Ron and Hermione and Draco and Pansy would not be able to do their rounds together. They, meaning Hermione, didn't think it would be fair to the rest of the students to be paired with people they barely knew why the Heads were just running around snogging during their rounds. Hermione actually laughed when Draco suggested the idea of her and 'Weasley' snogging their faces off when a poor unsuspecting firstie out of bed would run across them and be damaged for life.

They had finished the schedule the first time an hour before, but when double checking Draco had realized that they had paired themselves together three times a week. They had instantly decided that would be no good and set to changing those three slots, which turned into three more slots, and three more, until they gave the first schedule up as a bad job and started over. Now they were only scheduled together once a week for actual rounds. It didn't change that each night at eleven they both had to take a walk around to the hot spots for activity, i.e. the dungeons, the astronomy tower, and corridors that were not used during the school day, and make sure that all of the students, including the prefects were in their common rooms.

"Thank Merlin that is done with." He told her holding the piece of paper out for her to grab. He'd just looked over it for what seemed like the millionth time and the names had started running together. They could have scheduled Voldemort for rounds and he probably wouldn't have noticed at this point. He watched Hermione press her wand to the parchment he had just handed her and then flick it towards the mantle of their fireplace. The parchment grew as it flew slowly to the wall above the mantle, and by the time it had stuck itself there it was large enough for them to clearly read who should be on duty with moving from their spots at the table.

"I'll get a copy to Professor McGonagall tomorrow morning at breakfast, but for now we need to do rounds so that we might have a chance of sleeping tonight." She reminded him and he stood, reluctantly, to lead the way out.

"Did you have Snape today?" Hermione asked him as they made their way towards the astronomy tower, and to her surprise he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to him suddenly.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" he whispered in her ear, his hold on her shoulders sending shooting pains down her arms.

"No, what are you talking about."

"Ears, Everywhere." He said, and released her before walking on like nothing had happened. She rushed to catch up to him, rubbing her sore shoulders as she went. She understood what he meant, but she didn't think it likely that there were actually ears inside Hogwarts. It wasn't like Peter Pettigrew was scurrying around listening in on them. At this thought Hermione glared at the floor as if daring a rat to cross her path, but none appeared. She gave up on her attempts at conversation though, and they went through the rest of their rounds in silence. She had let herself forget who he was when they had been working together, but now she had been clearly reminded.

Once they arrived back at the library, Hermione opened the door with her key after saying the password to the tapestry. Malfoy spoke immediately after the door latched behind them. "Granger, this isn't a little golden trio adventure, okay? This is my life. I would appreciate it if you would treat it with a little more care than declaring in the pitch black castle where anyone could hear that Snape is still teaching here. If you want to try and stop the Dark Lord, that's on you and Scarhead, but don't drag me into it. I've played my part. I'm done. I just want to live through whatever is about to happen. I honestly couldn't give a rat's ass who wins, as long as I'm alive with whichever of the idiots is left standing. And, don't try and act all shocked and innocent like its not bloody obvious Potter is going after him. I'm not an idiot, you know. Potter thrives on that shit. It's like his food or something."

Hermione chose to ignore the part about Harry. She wasn't about to share that with him whether he claimed it was obvious or not. It was a secret. "I wasn't thinking about Snape, I'm not used to having to lie every single second of the day. And what is this anyway? It's not like there are secret Voldemort minions running around Hogwarts or something."

"Actually, I guarantee you that there are Voldemort minions, as you call them. They are everywhere, you naïve…"

"Don't you dare call me naïve! I've been through…"

"You haven't been through half of what I have. If you don't want me to call you naïve, then stop acting it, Granger. If you have half the brain the entire universe claims that you have, you should be able to figure out that we can't run around chit chatting about our situation." He was right of course, and that pissed her off more than anything else had.

"Okay, but you should know that Harry and Ron are curious, and pretty pissed at you."

"This is news to me because …"

"You know what, Malfoy. Never mind. I just thought you might like a heads up that the two of them are looking for answers that I can't give them, and the only other name they have is yours. But, apparently my words mean nothing, as always. So good night, fuck you too." She was gone then, up her staircase, and even if Malfoy had wanted to continue their conversation, there was no way he was following her up her staircase, begging her to listen to him and give him more warning's about Potter and Weasley jumping him. He'd dealt with worse from them in the past, and he would happily remind them of this again.

* * *

A/N … More Hermione/Draco time and the first semi fight between Ron and Hermione … oooooooo … whatever will happen next .

Meg


	5. Ch Five: Control Issues

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I'm simply an addict trying to get my fix … not the supplier.

* * *

The Meeting

There was no reason for Granger to get the schedule to McGonagall the next morning, because she was standing in their library when Draco walked out of their bathroom the next morning. He was only wearing a towel, as per his normal routine, and the sight of his Transfiguration Professor was not a welcome one.

"Mr. Malfoy, please put some clothes on and join us." The old hag asked him and he head straight to his stair case, noticing a smirk that looked quite like his own on the lips of the Head Girl.

When he sat in his chair at their table seven minutes later McGonagall and Granger were talking about how excellent the new prefect schedule was. Upon his arrival, however, they both turned to face him and he assumed a look of complete boredom as he wondered what the hell was going on.

"From now on, please make sure that you dress before you come cavorting into this room half naked, Mr. Malfoy. Ms. Granger uses this room as well and I'm sure she would appreciate you being dressed." Draco was about to say something about how her eyes sure seemed to enjoy him being half naked the night before, but thought better of it and grunted his agreement, though he had no real intentions of doing any such thing. It was easier to just clamber into the bathroom in the morning and use his shower to wake himself up. If he tried to pick out his clothing before he'd stood under steaming water for at least ten minutes he would end up with two pairs of pants and no shirt or something equally ridiculous. It was better for all involved, meaning him, if he just woke up during his shower and grabbed his uniform and clothes afterwards. "As for the prefects schedule you both drafted last night, I approve of it completely. I can see that you both put a lot of effort into it, and I appreciate that you were able to do something together, and you survived seemingly unharmed." Draco saw Granger unconsciously rub at her shoulders at this and recalled roughly grabbing her when she had mentioned Snape the night before. It wasn't his fault she was the idiot that went yelling about the git in the middle of the castle. She deserved to be a bit sore; maybe it would help her learn to keep her mouth shut.

"I have some news, though." Draco sat a little straighter at this. Was it his parents? Voldemort? Snape? "The Professors and I have been thinking," Oh Merlin's beard this was not going to be good. "And we have decided that it would be best for all parties involved," No good at all. The old bat was going to suggest something completely off the bloody wall. "If as many students as possible remain at Hogwarts during the winter holidays." Fuck, he knew that... Wait. What? What the hell did that have to do with him? "So, we of course considered when the only times that Hogwarts students voluntarily stayed at the school over break was and we've decided…"

The heads reacted at exactly the same time. Granger smiled widely and said, "Wow that is really wonderful." No doubt thinking about snogging her idiot Weasel while on the dance floor, and Draco slammed his hand on the table next to him and shook his head while telling McGonagall, "No," Repeatedly.

"I'm glad you both prove your brilliance."

"Professor, this is absolutely ridiculous." Draco told the had as she looked down at him over her glasses, like she was going to intimidate him. Who was she kidding? He lived with Voldemort. He had let his father burn a Dark Mark into his arm. He had seen people murdered and torture for no reason. One look over a pair of glasses from an old bag was not going to change his mind about anything.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, and I actually agree with you, but I don't see any other way." He snorted at this and on second thought he considered the idea that maybe she hated her own idea more than he did. There was no fucking way, if Pansy even, no. He wasn't going to any bloody …

"I think it's a wonderful idea, Professor. The students will stay here at Hogwarts where they are safe, and their Parents won't have to worry about their safety during those few weeks. We will open the event to all seven years then, of course." Bloody Granger and her 'wonderful' feelings about safety and ickle firsties. Merlin someone just rat Snape out now and let the Dark Lord kill Draco now. Please.

"Yes, Professor's Slughorn and Flitwick have agreed to help you with the arrangements; you'll have whatever you need." Help them? What exactly was the old bag getting on about now?

"You want us to plan it then?" Granger piped up and the old bag nodded.

"Yes, I detest the idea enough that I'm not getting involved. You two do whatever you feel is necessary and I'll trust you and the two Professors to have everything ready by Christmas Eve." Draco gave the old hag a piercing glare, but she seemed to feel the same way about his look that he had felt about hers.

"I assume I'm staying over break then?" He asked, resigning himself to the fact that Snape no doubt had a hand in this nonsense. That git.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. You are staying at Hogwarts through Christmas."

"I can hardly wait." He grumbled and looked over at Granger. It was easy to see that she was already planning the whole thing in her head. What was wrong with everyone? It was a bloody war out there and all Granger could suddenly think about was a freaking ball?

* * *

Herbology

Pansy was sitting next to him in Herbology that morning eating the end of her quill, staring absentmindedly at Potter. Draco wondered if she realized that was what she was doing, or if she was so absorbed in whatever she was thinking that she didn't know who or what she was staring at. Armed with the knowledge that Pansy hated the Golden Trio even more than he did, he was assuming the latter was true, or otherwise they would be having a serious conversation later that night that involved her not drooling like an idiot over fucking Potter in bloody Herbology.

Nott was scribbling notes as Sprout rambled on about some nonsense or another. Malfoy was too preoccupied with trying to figure out a way to convince McGonagall that her idea was insane. He didn't mind staying over break and he really didn't mind if she found a way to keep every bloody student there with him, but he was not about to attend some ridiculous ball, which …

Wait. That was it. McGonagall hadn't actually told them that they had to attend, the two of them, him and Granger, just had to plan the ruddy thing and then he could spend the night alone in his room. He looked over at Pansy again and his frown deepened. There was no way Pansy would go for that. She would drag him to the damn thing, if …

Well, he could just end things with her and she could find someone else to take her. He looked across the table again. Pansy wouldn't go with Nott, but maybe Zabini would want to … Yea, right. Zabini could hardly stand to be in the same room with Pansy for more than an hour, two minutes max if they were alone. Their problem was that Pansy couldn't recognize when she'd gone too far and Zabini had a very short wick when it came to women.

Draco sighed shortly and stared down at his Herbology book. If only bloody Potter would just go find Voldemort so that one of them could kill the other and he could go on with his life, but that wasn't likely to happen any time soon. So, he was back to figuring out how to make McGonagall drop all this nonsense. He couldn't see any alternate ways of tricking ninety percent of the population of Hogwarts into staying at the moment, but he was sure that if he thought long and hard enough he could think of something. Maybe Snape would help him figure something out. Sure, the git wanted Draco to stay over break, but it wasn't like Snape was into ball's anymore than Draco was.

Suddenly Draco's thoughts drifted to Snape, dressed in woman's robes, as Eddings at the ball dancing with that oaf Hagrid and he smirked. Maybe the ball wouldn't be so bad if it ended that way. He might even have an enjoyable evening if Snape had a bad enough one.

Draco was brought out of his amusing thoughts by the sound of Sprout's squeals of delight. It was obvious that Longbottom had amazed her once again with his bloody brilliance when it came to the magical world of sticking things it dirt, as Sprout was now holding up whatever Longbottom had just demonstrated for the rest of them to see. Draco chose to ignore them all once again and went back to his thoughts. Ways to get McGonagall to change her mind …

* * *

Free Period

Draco went outside during his free period after Herbology and picked a spot by the lake concealed by a bunch of overgrown bushes. He sat down there and grabbed his Herbology book out of his bag. The result of his brooding during the whole class was that he had no idea what Sprout had been going on about for the last hour or what Longbottomn had done that was so groundbreaking. And, so here he was reading about the benefits of fertilizing with mooncalf dung.

He was thinking about tossing the book into the lake, when he heard people approaching the lake near him. "… just want to know why you think you can't tell me what happened to make you trust Malfoy?" It was … Weasel? Weasel and who?

"Ron, you know as well as I that I don't trust Malfoy. He's such git, and arrogant at that, but I'm going to be spending a lot of time working with him this year, so it's just easier to try to be decent." Weasel and Granger, and he was not an arrogant git! He just, well, he knew he was good at everything. That wasn't arrogance. It was a good sense of self.

Draco heard a loud noise, possibly the dropping of their bags and then a rustle of grass as they sat down. He had decided not to make them aware of his presence the moment he heard his name. This was too good to give up. "You're not answering my question again. What is it that you and McGonagall and the Ferret had your chat about?" Draco clenched his fists at the sound of Ron's joke at his expense, but made himself stay calm.

"I told you, Ron. I can't say. I'm sorry. I really wish that I could, but I've promised McGonagall and it wouldn't be right to go back on my word."

"Maybe, but I don't think you should be spending all of this time alone with him either way. I don't like it." So, Weasel was jealous. This brought another smirk to Draco's lips as he thought of ways to use this to his advantage.

"I don't have a choice. We have to do our rounds together every night, he practically shoved himself into being my partner in Arithmancy, and now we have to plan the ball together." He had NOT shoved himself on her, she simply happened to be the only person in that class that he didn't want to kill after two seconds of carrying on a conversation. Well, he had... No, he definitely had not shoved himself upon her. He had simply refused to work with the other imbeciles that he knew would be joining them. It didn't take an unspeakable to figure out that he would have killed either of the other four members of their Arithmancy class before the first lesson was over. Granger had been the only real plausible option when you thought about it clearly, and besides who was she to be upset? It gave her a bloody reason to stare at him for two hours a day on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. What girl would be angry about that? None.

"Why the bloody hell does Malfoy want to spend all this time with you all the sudden? It's like he's lost his marbles or something. Really doesn't he have any friends?" He was going to fucking pound Weasel the next time he saw him. That idiot had the audacity to imply that he had to turn to Granger for friendship and now Granger was laughing her head off about it. What the hell was wrong with the damn Weasel? He had Pansy, and Crabbe, and Goyle, and Nott, and Zabini. Along with several various younger girls that he had taken advantage of when Pansy was in detention. He had plenty of .. well … actually he didn't actually care much for any of them. Maybe Nott. He was a real asshole. Draco liked that about him.

"I don't know." He heard Granger sigh softly. "Maybe not. But, I don't want to spend our whole break talking about Malfoy, Ron." Malfoy could almost see the smile on her face in his mind and he knew what was coming next. He scrunched up his face in disgust as he heard Ron wonder aloud what she wanted to do instead and the unmistakable sound of the pair of them snogging.

This was not his day.

* * *

Control

Throughout the next week whenever Granger asked him about working on the ball, Draco made sure to let her know that he had other things to do. The idea of her and the Weasel thinking he had no friends pissed him off to no end, and he had decided to inform her of this, without her actually knowing what he was informing her of. He was also very put off with her after listening to her and Weasel snog for thirty minutes. She had kept giggling and moaning Weasel's name and it had made him want to retch, but he couldn't because they would have heard him and known that he was listening to them the entire time. So, he had been a total prick to her all week, down to the very last minute of their rounds each night.

She had taken note of this and decided to adopt her old policy of not speaking to him, which didn't really make matters much better, considering he had yet to figure out a way to convince McGonagall to get over this whole ball thing. It also was not helping that the entire student body of Hogwarts seemed to have heard about the bloody thing. He blamed Granger completely for this, and it just added to his foul mood around her.

Instead of an outright attack on the Weasel, Draco settled for a little secretive deception. He split his bag open as they walked down the hall three times, knocked bottle upon bottle of ink on Weasel's books and homework during class, and made the idiot trip over his own feet in front Sprout on Friday morning, which had the fortunate side effect of knocking some flesh eating flower or another onto the red haired idiot and he had spent the rest of the day in the Hospital wing, or Draco assumed because the Golden trio was not at dinner that night. This also had the nice side effect of making Granger scarce on Friday night until nine o'clock when they met in front in their library for rounds that night.

The look she shot in his direction gave Draco the uneasy feeling that she knew what he had done, and was completely pissed at him. Well, good for him really. He liked it when she was pissed at him. It made it easier to hate her, not that he really had any trouble with that of course. It just solidified the felling. Granger left him at the entrance to their library and he had to walk at a quickened pace to keep up with her. He considered telling her to slow down, but immediately voted against showing her any sign of weakness that she could use to start raging at him about hurting her precious little boy toy. Ew. The sounds of her and the Weasel snogging next to him two days before filled his mind and he knew that if he had to stand next to her for the next two and a half hours he was going to lose his bloody mind.

Maybe if he could find someone doing something bad, that would distract him. He considered his addiction with catching idiots out of bed late at night to be a bit unhealthy, but he assumed that it was only brought on by his need to be assured that he was still in control of some aspects of his life. Snape could keep him in this castle, his parents could teach him their ways and make him live by them, Voldemort could tell him to kill people and threaten his life, but none of them could control him in these hours he spent out with Granger searching for trouble makers. It actually made him happy that they had agreed not to be paired up with their respective partners for their rounds, because he could therefore focus completely on destroying the lives of the imbecile adolescents who dared to cross his path after nine on Fridays and after eleven any other day of the week. If Pansy was there, she would be talking nonstop about something he probably didn't give a flying shit about while he hunted, and he would be forced to yell at her, which would extend the two week hiatus she had put on him until their next 'encounter'. Stupid bint.

Draco turned a corner and Granger stared at him in confusion at first, but followed nonetheless. He was going outside. He didn't know why, he just felt like it was necessary, like troublemakers were stretched out across the lawn. He exited the castle using on of the door that he and Granger had the password for and started his walk across the lawn to the lake. Granger was the one walking quickly to keep up now and this pleased him. It was better this way. He was the leader, the one in control of the situation. Each stride brought him closer to something. Actually, now that he thought about it he wasn't really going anywhere, he was just walking towards the overgrown bushes he had been concealed by when he listened in on Granger and Weasel talking about him.

Granger seemed to have realized where he was going and was giving him a curious look, like she wasn't sure if it could be a coincidence or not. She didn't say anything, so he assumed that she had just imagined up a reason for him going to the exact spot she had been in two days ago. When they reached the bushes, Draco smirked in pleasure. "What do we have here?" He asked the bushes, and at first he could tell that Granger thought he had gone mad, but then she heard it too.

"Shit." A boy's voice, and then a rustle, a zipper, perhaps? The boy who came out from behind the bushes was none other than Blaise Zabini. "Draco, hey, just enjoying the breeze, you know. I'll just go inside then. No harm done."

"Who was back there with you?" Malfoy asked curiously. Blaise didn't have a girlfriend. He didn't even mess around with the girls. He didn't date them, or kiss them, or flirt with them, or really do anything but remark how bloody hot the occasional one was. If Draco didn't know better he would think he was a poof, but this, finding Blaise at the lake in the middle of the night, obviously doing something other than enjoying the breeze, didn't make sense. Blaise ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Just leave it, mate. A favor?" Granger huffed next to me as if the last thing she wanted to do was do him a favor. She moved around him actually and made to disappear behind the bushes. Blaise held her arm and asked again. "A favor, Granger." Nothing could have prepared Draco for what happened next. He had no idea what passed between them in that moment, but granger did back up and move away, as if shocked, or stunned.

"Well, I'm not doing any bloody favors, I want to put someone in detention! Is it a Gryffindor? What the hell, mate?" Blaise shook his head and sighed again.

"No, just leave it. But, hey, I saw two Ravenclaws heading towards the Owlery a bit ago. You should check there." Draco could not believe this. What in the hell was going on? Was Blaise bribing him away from whatever girl he'd been with? Who the hell was it? Why was Granger on the Zabini wagon all the sudden?

"Malfoy," It was the first time she'd spoken to him in two days. "Let's go. I'll let you yell at those Ravenclaws and everything. You can even give them detention for a week with Eddings or McGonagall. Let's just leave this. He's your… friend." She seemed so desperate for him to leave that Draco knew he shouldn't, but he took a step back.

"Detention, Zabini. I'll arrange it with McGonagall." Blaise looked upset, but kept his words to himself. Malfoy turned then and marched back up to the castle and straight to the Owlery. He was going to get to yell at someone. He had to yell at someone. He hated being left out of the loop, and that was exactly what had just happened. He had lost control of this part of his life as well, handed it over to Granger and Zabini and he had to take it back.

He found them almost immediately. Two boys, who couldn't be more than third year, were leaving the owlery and Malfoy blocked their path easily by standing in the door frame. He yelled at them for nearly fifteen minutes, and true to her word Granger stood a few feet behind him and let him yell. She only took over when his voice cracked and he was rasping at them. She gave them a week of detention, just like she promised he could, and told them Eddings would be in touch. It helped, but it didn't fix the real thing that was bothering him.

"Why did you defend him?" Draco asked her as they walked into the Library that night. "What happened? Blaise Zabini hates you possibly more than I do, and, yet you defended him and some ninny you don't even know for what reason? What was it?" Granger looked at him uneasily and shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe I just hoped that if it was Harry and Ginny you would let them go." She was lying. He knew this because he spent his entire life around liars. He was a great liar himself, but Granger, Granger was only an amateur and this lie was easy to see through.

"I'm going to find out why you're lying to me." He told her, and she nodded.

"I suspect you will, but, Malfoy, leave my boyfriend alone. Whatever problems you and I have because of this insane thing with Snape, are between you and me, and have nothing to do with Ron." She was turning pink and her fists were clenched. It was amusing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Granger?"

"Well look who's lying now." She stated, her voice deadpan, before she walked up the stairs to her room and he turned to punch the side of the bookcase beside him. He hated it when people lied to him. He hated it when people hid things. He hated it when people took control from him.

* * *

A/N … Why did Hermione side with Blaise … oh no … and yes I had to put a ball in as much as it makes me sick. It's the classic D/Hr moment . Please Review ! It makes my day !

Meg


	6. Ch Six: Big Mistakes in Little Moments

Title : What a Classic Cliché

Pairing : Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I'm simply an addict trying to get my fix … not the supplier.

A/N : If you positively cannot stand Ron/Hermione nonsense do not read the section entitled alone time. I apologize to you and still love you even if you skip that part, though I think the end of this chapter might make up for it. You'll have to be the judges. Also, this is the longest chapter so far and the hardest for me to write, hence the longer wait.

* * *

Quidditch

Hermione walked with Ron and Harry to the Quidditch Pitch Sunday after lunch with a distracted look permanently on her face. This did not go unnoticed by Ron, who still had a slight scar on his chin from being attacked by a plant, nor did the fact that Hermione had spent over two hours walking around the school with Malfoy on Friday while he was in the infirmary. "You okay?" He asked her as they reached the Pitch and Harry went ahead to talk to Ginny.

"Yea, I just had a late night. I stayed up after rounds and did some of my homework last night. Even with your practice, I'm going to have to work most of the night on Arithmancy."

"With Malfoy." Ron said, a sour tone not passing Hermione's notice. She moved towards him and kissed his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his arms around her, even as his broom hit her back softly.

"Yes, with Malfoy." She murmured into his t-shirt. His chest expanded with his sigh and when he let her go she noticed his ears were tinged pink.

She moved her bag from shoulder to shoulder and watched him closely, not sure what to do. Was she supposed to reassure him that she didn't want to spend time with Malfoy? Why the hell would he even think that she did? Why was it bothering him this much? "But, if you want we could spend some time together after dinner? Just the two of us… I'm sure Harry won't mind." She added with a sideways look at him and Ginny. Ginny had both of their brooms and was running away from Harry, holding them high above her head.

Ron shook his head at his sister and best friend and then nodded. "Yea, you can come up to our dorm if you want. Then you could even get some work done if you have to. Seamus and Dean are having a chess tournament all day with a couple Ravenclaws in the Great Hall and Neville said he's spending the night in the Greenhouses with Sprout and Hannah."

Hermione smiled knowingly. She knew that she wouldn't get any homework done if they had his dorm to himself, but it was nice of him to offer that she could attempt it. "That sounds good. I'm going up to take a seat, Harry looks ready to start."

"Alright." Ron took off toward the pitch and Hermione moved into the stands, climbing to the top. She watched her friends and their teammates for the first few minutes of their practice, but lost interest quickly. Instead, she grabbed her Transfiguration notes from her bag and placed one of her shoes in front of her. She was supposed to be turning it into a horseshoe, but she had been unsuccessful the previous Friday in class. She wasn't particularly worried, because no one else had managed the Transfiguration either, but it was easy to tell that her stress from worrying about Harry, Voldemort, Snape, Malfoy, and Ron was getting to her. She was not at the top of her game and she needed to figure out a way to get back to her old self. Somewhere deep inside of her a voice told her that she shouldn't be wasting time in Ron's room when she had so much work to catch up on, but her desire to spend time alone with him was much stronger. They hadn't managed to be alone since the Wednesday before at the lake and it was starting to wear on both of them. Even when she had gone to visit him in the hospital wing after lessons on Friday, Harry had been with her. It would be good for her to put her books aside for a few hours and just enjoy his company.

After the other night, she needed to do something to distract her and cheer her up. She was after all helping Blaise Zabini, someone she could hardly stand to be next to let alone speak with, get away with something so disgusting that the thought of it made Hermione's heart ache. She couldn't imagine what she would do if something like that happened to her. If Harry and her…? It would devastate Ron. What kind of people were those insane Slytherins anyway. She knew they were rotten, but Pansy and Blaise were sinking to a new level of evil.

"Hermione!" Ginny's voice rang out in the air around her as the girl sped past, leaving her laughter behind. Hermione laughed as well and waved at the red blur as it sped towards the other side of the pitch. Turning her attention back to her shoe, she began to look forward to her afternoon, completely shoving any doubtful thoughts away.

* * *

Alone Time

Hermione locked the door to the seventh year boys' dorm after she entered, just as a precaution of course. She didn't want Seamus or Dean to come back from their tourney early and find her and Ron snogging on his bed or anything. Her cheeks tinged pink at the thought and Ron seemed to notice, causing his lips to curl up into a smile. "What?" He asked softly as he closed the distance between them, their foreheads meeting before the rest of his body followed suite. Hermione backed against the door and dropped her bag next to her. Her arms moved around his neck and pulled him into her. At first, Ron teased her by brushing his lips against hers and then pulling away far enough to see her bite her bottom lip again as her stomach twisted into knots.

A moment later, their lips met in a fury that made it clear that neither of them were interested in chatting. They hadn't been able to get rid of their frustrations for each other in over a week and it showed. Ron bit her lip softly and slid his tongue into her mouth for a single moment before pulling it back out to tease her lips. He grinned into her mouth as her hands moved down his chest and found their place in the pockets of his pants, pulling him as close as possible to her. "Ron…" She managed as they paused for a breath and he started to walk backwards as their mouths met again. By the time he fell backwards on his bed, Hermione had started pushing his t-shirt up his chest. She moved her head down to kiss his bare skin as it was revealed, stopping only when she reached his mouth again and he helped her remove his shirt completely.

She looked over him appreciatively and he tinged the same shade of pink that she had just minutes ago. "What?" He asked again and she lay next to him on his bed, her arm draped over his bare chest.

"Nothing, really. I just … I can't believe we're actually here, together, alone."

"Well," Ron moved over her and his lips found her neck, making her arch towards him. "Let's not waste our time." His hands slid under her shirt and in moments it joined his on the floor. He kissed a line down her jaw to her neck and then her chest. His hands moved behind her and he fumbled with the hooks of her bra. He got the top undone, only to get it caught back on the bottom when he started his work there. Hermione giggled at this, and reached behind her own back, moving her body up against his again as she undid the hooks the right way and pushed her bra down her arms.

"Oh …" Ron looked at her appreciatively and she moved her arm over her breasts, embarrassed. "No, Hermione, you're so beautiful." He told her and his left hand moved to her right breast. He looked into her eyes for reassurance, and she moved her own arm away. His movements were unsure and his hands were shaking, but Hermione enjoyed the feel of him against her skin nonetheless. In fact, when his thumb grazed her nipple on accident she hissed in a breath and pulled his waist down to hers. She could clearly feel his need against her and he looked surprised at her reaction.

"That felt good." She mumbled, still unsure how to react to what was happening. They had never moved this far before. At the burrow they had been worried about his family finding them, and last week they had been by the lake where anyone could see. What they were doing was new and exciting and terrifying.

"I don't …" Ron started, and she stared into his eyes, seeing the same conflicting emotions there and something that looked like intense desire. "I don't know how far we're going." He said finally and she suddenly wondered the same thing.

"I don't know." She admitted. "Just, as far as feels right, I guess." Ron nodded, but still seemed uncertain. He had moved his hand back to her side, and she felt a need for them to be touching again. Without really thinking, she reached for his belt and began to unfasten the buckle. He looked at her with confusion and she grinned at him, hoping to reassure him.

Once she had undid the button and zipper of his jeans she pushed them down past his boxers and felt him kick them the rest of the way off. He moved to he side again as soon as they were gone and Hermione let him unbutton her own skirt and send it sliding down her legs before kicking it off the side of his bed. He glanced over at the window next to his bed, and even though it was to far off the ground for anyone to see anything, he closed the hangings, leaving them in semi darkness.

Their touches were tentative after that, neither of them daring to venture past their waists, as their kisses grew quickly in intensity. When Hermione could no longer deny the heat between her legs she pressed it against him again and instantly felt a moment of release when he was rubbing against her. "Oh…" She said quickly and he laughed. "Ron, what are we doing?" She asked the top of his head, as his mouth found her stomach and proceeded to place kisses down to her underwear.

"Can I?" He asked her and she thought about it for a long time, before nodding her approval. His hand moved up her leg, then her thigh, and pressed against her underwear. She grabbed the sheets of his bed beneath him and fought to keep her hips from bucking to get him to press harder against her. He moved his body back over hers, but his hand remained over her underwear. Slowly, he moved it up to the top and then slid beneath the white cotton. Hermione pulled her legs up slightly and separated them to make it easier for him to slide a single finger inside of her. She'd done this herself before, but it was nothing like having Ron moving in and out of her.

Without thinking she moved her own hand to join his and pulled his thumb over her clit, rubbing in slow circles. "Ron…" She hissed again, and he looked pleasantly surprised that she was responding to his touches. When his slow pace got near unbearable for her she began to move her hips up to meet him and enjoyed the feeling of another finger join the first inside of her. "Faster?" It was a question, but Ron didn't need to be asked twice, he moved his hand faster in response to her desperate tone and with a smile, he bent his head to lick her left nipple. When she moaned again, he sucked at the flesh around it and without warning felt her seize around his fingers, arch into him, and scream through gritted teeth.

Delight ran through Ron as Hermione fell back onto his bed and closed her eyes. He had given her something that no one else ever had, and that made him feel like the luckiest guy in Hogwarts. "Ron," She said, opening her eyes to smile dreamily at him. "That was amazing."

* * *

An Eventful Stroll

"Do you want to come see the Library?" Hermione asked Ron as they made their way down the boys' staircase, hand in hand, later that night.

Ron laughed at this and teased, "I've seen the library hundreds of times, Hermione."

"I mean the heads library." She replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Well in that case, sure." They started lazily in the direction of the entrance to Hermione's library, with her leading the way of course. Every once in a while Ron would stop her and kiss her against the wall as the portraits or the suites of armor stared on in either approval of their young love, or displeasure at his foolish behavior. Hermione didn't really care what they did or said, she was happier right now than she had been for a long time, and she had completely forgotten all about the Friday night by the lake and Voldemort and Harry, until they ran into Blaise Zabini himself and she remembered everything.

"Granger, I need to talk to you." If the look on his face was any indication, this simple sentence seemed to physically harm him in some way. Hermione however knew that it was more the fact that he was going to have to speak to a 'Mudblood' rather than any outside force causing him pain. She considered telling him to sod off, as Ron had chosen to do, but she knew that eventually they would have to speak, and it would probably be better if they did it before she spent the evening working with Malfoy.

"Ron," She turned to her boyfriend instead of speaking directly to the idiot who had requested her company. "I do need to talk to him. Can I show you the library tomorrow?" Ron looked stunned to say the least.

"What do you mean you have to talk to him?" He let go of her hand and pushed his own into his jean pockets.

"I gave him a detention Friday night; we need to talk about the details."

"Well, I'm a prefect, it's not like I'm not familiar with detentions, and anyway the Professor usually takes care of that, not the students."

"Ron," She reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, but he backed away.

"No, you just go ahead, I'll see you later."

As soon as he had rounded the nearest corner, Hermione glared at Blaise with every ounce of hatred she could muster. "What the hell do you want?" She asked and he looked at the corner where Ron had just vanished.

"You know what I want. She said you saw her." He had crossed his arms across his chest, and she thought he looked rather ridiculous standing there wanting to know if she was going to rat him out.

"And?" Hermione replied, knowing that prolonging this meeting would annoy the hell out of him.

Zabini huffed in irritation and shared her glare. "And, are you going to tell him?"

"No, but if you don't soon I'll change my mind. I don't give a ruddy hell about Malfoy, but what you two are doing is beyond disgusting. It's low even for you, Zabini." Blaise rolled his eyes at this and stared at her as if she was the stupidest person on the earth.

"You don't know the half of it Granger. You think they actually give a shit about each other? Pansy couldn't care less about him, but her father wants her to marry him so she tries for 'daddy's' sake, and Draco cheats on Pansy like it's nobody's business, so don't think you'd be doing him a favor by letting him know what's going on."

"If it's not a big deal then why are you so worried about it?" She asked, knowing she had bested him. If it didn't matter, there was no way they would be having this conversation.

"Of course it's a big deal, It doesn't matter if Draco wants her or not, as long as they are together Pansy is supposed to be with him and only him. If he found out she was screwing me on the side, he would have to react in a certain way. Just do what's best for everyone and keep your fat nose,"

"Malfoy!" Hermione chimed in, interrupting Blaise's last sentence. He spun around, putting on a fake smile as he did so, and greeted his friend.

"What the bloody hell is going on with you two?" Malfoy asked them and Blaise looked over at Hermione, hoping she had an explanation for why they were together.

"Nothing, just, uhm … talking about Blaise's detention, but we should get going if we're going to finish our Arithmancy tonight." And she left, not bothering to wait and see if Malfoy bought her excuse or if Blaise was getting the third degree behind her. She left them and headed in the direction of their Library, not stopping once until she reached it, and was safely inside.

Malfoy dropped his bag onto the table inside their library and stood beside it, his palms resting on the wood as he stared at her. Hermione knew very well that he was staring at her. She knew that he was hoping to make her so uncomfortable she would tell him exactly what she and Zabini had been talking about, but she just stared down at her Arithmancy work and bit her lip in agitation. "So, we need to …"

"I want to know, Granger." He told her, not bothering to sit down. "And, I want to know now. Why are you protecting Zabini?"

"I'm not protecting him." She sneered, trying to keep her cool and failing miserably. She had enough to worry about with Ron getting angry with her; she really didn't need this on top of that. "We were arguing about his detention. He said it was unfair that you gave your own housemate a detention and that it had to be my fault and he wanted me to take it back. I told him it was your own decision who you gave detention's to and that he shouldn't have been on the grounds anyway."

"Stop lying, Granger." His tone had dropped lower than she had ever heard him speak before, but it was surprisingly more frightening than hearing him yell. "It's not like Zabini means anything to you. What could you possibly gain from protecting him?"

"I told you, I am not protecting HIM." She shouted the last word and finally looked up at him. His pale skin was tinged the lightest shade of red and his hair was falling into his face. He looked like a angry dog. If she wasn't angry as well, Hermione might have found him amusing, as it was she just found him aggravating.

"Then who are you protecting?" He asked her and she shifted out of her seat, starting to pack up her things. It was clear they were going down a straight path with this argument and it did not lead to homework.

"No one." She told him, stuffing the last of her books into her back. She turned and started to walk to her room, but he ran in front of her and she was reminded of him blocking the way out of the owlery.

"Granger, just tell me."

"And if I told you that it has absolutely nothing to do with you and you're making a right idiot of yourself? What then Malfoy? Because that is what you are doing. You're making an idiot of yourself over something that you needn't worry about. So, get the hell out of my way and let me go to my room, we can finish our homework some other day." Malfoy stared at her for a full minute, and she stared back. She thought that perhaps for once she had managed to tell a lie that he couldn't detect, probably because he was so furious in the first place. To her surprise, he did move aside eventually and allow her to pass him, but she had a suspicion that this wasn't over. Since her conversation with Blaise, she wasn't sure if she would still tell Malfoy what was going on between his friends, but it was the most logical route. Perhaps she should just forget about the whole thing. Malfoy wasn't an idiot; he was likely to figure out that something was up before too long. Maybe it was best to let nature take its course. After all since when did she care about a Slytherin's happiness? Particularly a Slytherin named Malfoy.

"Granger, get back here. You know that if we don't finish this tonight Vector won't accept it." He told her and she paused on the third stair. She shifted her wait from foot to foot and cursed him for sitting next to her in Arithmancy for what seemed like the millionth time.

Her hand moved to her forehead and she blew out a long, slow, painful breath. "Fine, but if you utter one syllable about Zabini, I'm leaving. I'll get the Professor to accept my work the way it is and switch me partners." Her arms were crossed and she was once again glaring down at him.

Draco pushed the hair out of his face and nodded. "Yea, whatever you say."

* * *

Old Memories

Two hours later, Hermione was back in the Gryffindor Common Room looking for Ron unsuccessfully. "I don't know where he is." Harry told her for the third time, and she finally sat down beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Harry, I don't know what to do. He's just so quick to judge every little thing. I feel like each second he's watching, waiting for me to do something wrong, only I don't know what's wrong and what's right."

Harry put an arm around her shoulders and they leaned against the back of the couch. "You know Ron just as well as I do. You had to know getting into this he was going to be the jealous type. He knows that you'd never do anything with Malfoy, but you're spending all of this time with him and you haven't told him why you even trust him. Honestly, I'm not exactly jumping at you spending all of this time with him either."

Hermione sighed against him and stared at the fire. "I'm sorry, Harry." In that moment, Hermione wanted nothing more than to just tell Harry what she had seen the night they came back to Hogwarts, but she knew that she couldn't. Instead she pushed herself up from the couch. "Just tell Ron I was looking for him. I'm going to go out to the pitch and see if he went out there, If not I'm going to bed."

Hermione reached the pitch minutes later, and instead of taking the familiar path up to the stands, she made her way into the pitch. As she walked, she considered Harry's words carefully. It had further confirmed her thoughts that Ron was mad at her because of some ridiculous notion that she enjoyed being with Malfoy, or that Malfoy was trying to pursue her. When she finally reached the pitch, it took her less than a minute to see that Ron was indeed there. He appeared to have charmed several Quaffles to fly at him from various angles, no doubt something he learned during practice.

She considered shouting at him to let him know of her presence, but instead sat down on the side of the field to watch him. She never really cared much for Quidditch, but she had always enjoyed watching Harry, Ginny, and Ron play in the house matches. She had even found herself staring at them as they practiced sometimes, wondering what it would be like to be able to move through the air like them without being terrified of falling to her death. Every so often one of them talked her into getting on their broom after practice and she would let them fly her around for a few minutes and then return to the ground with a newfound love of the feeling of solid earth beneath her feet.

Watching Ron dodge from side to side, determination etched in the lines of his face, Hermione wondered at the fact that when no one was watching him, he caught each and every Quaffle that flew at him, no matter the difficulty of the angle or the speed it flew. She smiled at the thought of the match last year when she and Ron had thought he'd been under the influence of Felix. At the time, it had been horrible, but now she was able to look back at their arguments and see just how silly they had been.

Hermione sat there in the grass for nearly an hour before Ron pulled his wand out of his robes and aimed it at each of the Quaffles as it flew towards him. One by one, they fell the ground directly below him and in seconds he was on the ground in front of the hoops, gathering the Quaffles into a bag with the Gryffindor lion displayed proudly on the outside. Hermione pushed herself up from the ground and pulled her robes closer around her as she walked towards him. "Ron." She called once she was close enough for him to hear her, and she immediately regretted it. His initial reaction was to drop the bag and point his wand at her, ready to curse, but his reaction to her once he realized she was indeed his girlfriend wasn't really much better than it would have been if she had actually been an enemy.

"What do you want?" He asked, reaching for the bag once again. She could tell he was forcing himself to be calm, to try and talk to her civilly, but the jealousy and anger he felt was still reflection in his cold tone and the way he turned his back to her.

"I just thought we could talk." She told him, moving closer.

"Unless you want to tell me what the bloody hell it is that you aren't telling me, I don't want to talk tonight." He pulled the bag over his shoulder and started the walk towards the changing rooms.

Hermione hurried after him, trying to keep her own frustration from making this worse "Ron, please, we have to talk about this, or it's just going to be this thing between us."

"Hermione," His sudden halt surprised her and she bumped into his shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice as he turned to her to make sure that she heard him. "It's already between us. I've never kept anything from you. I've always told you anything you wanted or needed to know, and I expected the same from you. If it was Harry, I would understand. I expect him to keep everything to himself, but you and I don't do that. At least, I didn't think we did."

"Ron…" His name sounded lame as it came from her mouth, so she reached to clasp his hand. He didn't grip hers back, but he didn't pull away. "I can tell you why Blaise Zabini wanted to talk to me, but not about Malfoy."

"Then, what? What is it that is so important that you had to send me away like a dog so that you could talk to that idiot?" Even in the night that surrounded them, Hermione could see Ron frustration.

"The other night, when Malfoy and I had rounds, we checked the grounds and Malfoy found Blaise outside with a girl, only he couldn't see her behind a bush. At first, I tried to find out who it was, because both of them deserved detentions, of course, but it was Pansy Parkinson. So, I told Malfoy to let it go, because Zabini is his friend. Well, he didn't want to, but he gave Zabini a detention and we went back in the castle to finish our rounds." Hermione looked expectantly at Ron, as if hoping this would clear everything up, but he seemed even more confused.

"Why would you do that? Why wouldn't you give them both detentions?" Ron pulled his hand from hers then and stuck in his pocket instead.

"Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy are dating, Ron. Can you imagine what it would be like to be thrown into that in the middle of the night by people who are supposed to be your friends?" Ron was looking at her as if she'd grown antlers while she talked. When he was silent for a full minutes she asked, "What?"

"It's Malfoy, Hermione. Draco Malfoy. The same miserable, sodding git who tried to kill Dumbledore last year. He was part of Umbridge's idiots. He's kept it no secret how he feels about your blood, and you're adding to the stress your already under by protecting him from a cheating girlfriend and best friend, who both, may I remind you, hate you as well." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Ron. She couldn't look him in the face and talk to him like this.

"Just because they are bad people, doesn't mean they don't have some inkling of human feelings. I hate him, too, but even I would want him to save me from walking in on you screwing Lavender in the bushes by the lake in the middle of the night." It was a low blow to be sure, but she was tired and angry and too stressed to care.

"I would never do that!" Ron fumed, his voice escalating rapidly.

"Oh, no? You practically did it last year." Her voice cracked at the memory of watching Ron eat Lavender's face the previous year.

"You and I were never…"

"Don't say that!" She was screaming as well now, her voice a mingle of cracks and screams and she forced her eyes to keep from crying. How could they be here, at this place, when just hours ago they had been in his room, and it had been so perfect? "You knew how I felt about you and you ran off with her, snogging her all over the place, while I was absolutely miserable for months." It was too late now; she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly and stared at the ground.

"Hermione…" Ron muttered, but he had nothing else to say. He didn't know how to make up for something he did a year ago. What words would make that better? None that he knew, for sure.

"I'm going to bed." She told him suddenly and started to walk briskly away, towards the distant lights of the school. She heard Ron say her name again, but she needed to get away from him. She needed space. She needed to calm down, and there was no way she would do that around him tonight.

* * *

Testing

Instead of taking the way up to Gryffindor tower and walking into her room as she usually did, Hermione walked straight to the Library which she and Malfoy shared. Despite the fact that a little voice inside of her was telling her to calm down and go back to see Ron, straighten everything out, she was still crying her eyes out and forcing herself not to let sickening images of Lavender pawing all over Ron float through her brain. When she forced her way roughly into the Library, earning a very rude comment from the key hole after she jostled her key inside of it for a full minute before actually opening the door, she was startled by the presence of Malfoy sitting at their table, still staring at their Arithmancy charts.

"Merlin, Granger, you look like you were attacked by the Giant Squid. Did Weasel try to kiss you? I know I would be upset if Weasel tried to kiss …" He never finished his statement however because Hermione had stomped towards him, her hand straight out, until her finger collided with his chest.

"You, shut up. This is entirely your bloody fault. You don't deserve to make fun at me, when this whole damn thing is all your ruddy fault." She knew that her hair must be flying, her eyes swollen and red, her cheeks stained with tears. She must look like some sort of monster, and judging by Malfoy's reaction he was thinking the same thing.

His nose curled up at the contact of her finger against his chest, poking into him again and again, until he swatted it away, stood up, and grabbed her shoulders. "What the hell are you going on about, Granger."

"Ron. I never would have argued with him if it wasn't for you. It's not enough that you've ruined every other aspect of my life at least once; you can't just leave my relationship with Ron alone. You have to have your foot in everything. You destroy everything!" She was shrieking again. She knew this, but she couldn't stop. It was like the night had snowballed into this very moment and she had to keep rolling, it wasn't up to her any longer.

"What did I have to do with you and Weasel arguing?" Not that he wasn't pleased to hear that it was his fault they were arguing, but he actually hadn't done anything to make them argue. Yet, that was. There was always tomorrow.

"It all started with this stupid thing with bloody Professor Snape. Ron wants to know this and that and why I trust you and why I'm spending all this time with you and why I talk about you all the bloody time, and it's all because of you. First, you just had to be Head Boy of course, which means that I spend every bloody minute of my rounds with you. And, then you and Snape made me part of this idiotic thing your doing to keep you away from your parents, which I don't even understand. Then you had to sit next to me in Arithmancy, when you know that our Arithmancy class is going to be one of the most challenging this year, which means that you and I would be spending hours upon hours together on weekends and holiday breaks to finish our work. And then, to top it all off you had to go find Blaise and Pansy screwing in the bushes by the lake, and I didn't want you to get hurt so I go off and try to save you from seeing that and Ron gets pissed off because I think you have feelings." Hermione didn't need to look at his face to realize that she had just messed up, messed up big time.

"What are you talking about Blaise and Pan… you … this is what you were keeping from me? The reason you and Blaise are suddenly buddy, buddy? The reason you made me walk away that night? Because you didn't want me to know that my girlfriend is cheating on me?" Malfoy tightened his grip on her shoulders and stared at her, waiting for an answer.

"I … I'm so sorry … I didn't mean to blurt it out, I wanted them to tell you, I really …" Malfoy was staring at her oddly now. She suddenly felt uncomfortable with the realization that they were less than a foot apart and he had his hands on her, gripping her tight, keeping her there in front of him.

"Why? Why wouldn't you have just let me find them?" His voice was cold, but the odd look remained, and it made his question seem, if nothing else, sincere.

"I … I didn't think, If it was me, I wouldn't want that." She told him, looking at his ear to keep from having to stare at him. "I really am sorry."

"Me too." Malfoy finally let go of her arms and she brought her hands up to rubs at them. "I thought they hated each other." He mumbled. "They always … She was such an idiot and he was always so impatient, so negative, cold…" Hermione felt like she was intruding on a treasured secret and it made her immediately more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry." She mumble again. "Really, sorry."

He seemed to become aware of her existence once again and stared straight at her eyes. "Will you let me try something, Granger, a test of sorts?" He asked and he sounded as if his mind was a thousand thoughts away from this moment.

"What test?" She asked uncertainly, but she needn't have asked. It took him a moment to close the space between them. His hands gripped her shoulders again, his face leaned sideways, and in an instant he was kissing her. At first, she just stood there in that spot, trying to let her brain catch up with what was happening, and once it did she tried to move her arms to push him away, to do anything to stop him. But, he held her steady, pressed her back towards the table, as his teeth bit at her bottom lip and his body moved harder against her. In that moment, she forced herself to forget who she was and answered him, hungry to feel something good in this night that had gone so horribly wrong. Once she started to respond, he loosened his hands, sliding them down her arms, and finally repositioning one at her waist to pull her even closer and the other at her hair, gripping the mess without abandon as her tongue slid into his mouth and a single moan issued from one of them. It could have been from either at that point, and neither really cared who it had been. Hermione wound her own arms around his neck and found that he was the perfect height to rest them comfortably there, tugging him towards her softly.

The next minute, it was over as soon as it had started. Malfoy pulled back from her, ran a hand through his hair and stared at her, disbelief was a soft word for the look he was giving her. "I see." He said simply, before leaving her, tear stained and confused, in the library on her own.

* * *

A/N … Well then . Not much to say actually . Read and Review . I wonder how you all take this . By the way, Ron and Hermione did not have sex . In case you were wondering .

Meg


	7. Ch Seven : The Aftermath

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making money off this ….. blah blah blah . the end .

A/N : enjoy.

* * *

Headache

There was an incessant pain on each side of Draco's head that he had been rubbing at all morning while eating his breakfast. Apparently finding out that his girlfriend was cheating on him, or rather who she was cheating on him with, and kissing Hermione Granger were not punishment enough. No. That simply would not do for Draco Malfoy. Instead the powers that be needed to make sure and add the most awful headache of his life into the mix to make things interesting. It took all of his remaining nerve, which was not much, not to reach across the table at that very moment and strangle Zabini within an inch of his life. It wasn't so much that he was screwing Pansy that bothered him, actually he really didn't care about it at all, as it was that he'd done it behind his back without even a warning or a clue to the fact that he was being made a fool of. Malfoy's had been many things, but not fools, never fools.

"Are you sure you're all right? Why don't you let me take you to the Hospital Wing?" Pansy's hand covered his own and he moved it away.

His eyes flew over to the Gryffindor table for the thousandth time that morning to check if Granger had shown up for breakfast, but her seat next to Weasel was still empty. "I'll be just fine. I'm going to class." And, so he had no choice but to grab his bag and leave his treacherous friends behind as he made his way to Ancient Runes. The whole thing with Granger last night must be the cause of this headache, which he had indeed taken a potion for when he had drug himself out of bed that morning. It had done nothing but make it, if possible, worse.

He had Ancient Runes for an hour this morning, and then off to Herbology where he would see her for the first time since he'd left her the night before, staring after him like he was supposed to explain what the hell he'd just done. He couldn't have explained it even if he tried. It had started out as an experiment. Blaise and Pansy hated each other, but they were going around having secret affairs. So, he had kissed Hermione to see if their attraction to each other was some sort of sick thrill they got from being with someone they couldn't stand.

His reaction, and hers, had surprised him to say the least. She had been so soft, so warm, and yet her tears had made their kiss salty as well. His hands had flown over her skin and into her hair, which had been softer than he ever could have imagined. Her body had melted onto his and made him feel things that he had never felt with Pansy. It was wrong in every sense of the word, but damn if it hadn't felt like he could have stayed there touching, feeling, and kissing her until he died. This reaction was the reason for his headache at the moment. He hadn't slept for a single minute the night before, and therefore had been awake for more than twenty four hours now. The headache had been a gradual thing that started around five that morning, gaining momentum all the while as he tried to sleep and then as he got ready for lessons.

He reached the Ancient Runes classroom twenty minutes before the class was due to begin and set his bag on the floor next to him. It only took him a few minutes to fall asleep there on his desk, but his nap was short lived as the sounds of other students woke him only another few short minutes after he dozed off.

* * *

Skiving Off

Ancient Runes was pure hell, and his headache was no better. He had left the class with full intentions of going to Herbology, but he had told Blaise he was stopping by the bathroom, and his feet carried him to the bathroom in the library he shared with Granger. After he'd finished, he didn't even bother to go to his room, he just sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace and shut his eyes, begging for sleep to save him from the pain coursing through his brain.

He would have been able to ignore Granger if she had just walked past him to her room, or better yet just gone out the door and made her way to Herbology, where she was supposed to be. Instead she walked into the library and stared at him while he stared at her, having opened his eyes to see who was disturbing him, when really it was obvious.

"I'm sorry." She muttered. "I thought you would be in class." It was very clear to him that the rest of this statement was, 'So I came here to avoid you,' even though she never said it.

"Yea, well, I have a bloody headache." He told her, his hand moving to his forehead to rub at his skull, hoping to rub the pain away.

He expected her to leave then, now that it was clear that he was not going to make her talk to him, or even bring the previous night up, but she asked him a question instead. "Have you taken something?" She asked, moving closer and dropping her back on the floor a few feet from him.

"Yes, before breakfast." He had his eyes closed again, and a small amount of relief rushed through him in the absence of the lights that filled the room.

"It should be gone then." She told him, and he felt her move up beside his chair, and then something that shocked him more than he would care to admit. She put a hand above his, pushing slightly to imply that he should move his away, and so he did, letting it fall onto his lap, his eyes still shut. "Malfoy, you obviously have a fever. You should be in the Hospital Wing. This isn't just a headache."

He moved his hand back up to brush hers away and forced himself to stand up, ignoring the dizzy sensation that overcame him as he did so. "I'll just go sleep a bit, and I'll be fine. Go to Herbology, Granger. I wouldn't want you to tarnish that perfect record."

"Yes, and I suppose sitting through another hour of lessons with my boyfriend, who already isn't speaking to me, and not telling him that some git kissed me last night is so much better than skiving off." She had her hands on her hips and she was giving him a look so much like his Auntie Bella's that he refrained from pointing out that she'd called him an git, and instead said, "You kissed me, too," as if they were five years old and they had both stole cookies from the cookie jar.

"I was in shock, Malfoy!" Draco held his hands up, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Wow, let's keep our inside voices on. My head is on fire." Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled her cloak off, only to drop it on his abandoned chair.

"Come on, git; let's get you to Madame Pomfrey."

"I'll be fine." He insisted again, starting towards his room, and was surprised that she let him go without further ado.

* * *

Draco's Bedroom

When he woke, he wasn't sure how much time had past, and there was no way of knowing as his room was windowless. He did however notice the presence of something or someone above him. With a few squints of his eyes, the fuzzy image turned into Hermione Granger, holding a vial of something he supposed was going to taste truly vile. She'd probably ordered it especially vile just for him. "What is it?" He huffed, feeling pins in his throat as he talked. The headache was spreading into other aches.

"This is what Madame Pomfrey told me to give you. She said it should take care of just about anything any git like you could contract."

"There you go with that word again, Granger. I don't think I like it." He pushed himself into a sitting position on his bed and held his hand out for the vial.

She sat further down the bed from him, and crossed her legs. "Just drink it." She demanded, and so he stared at the red liquid one final time before letting it slide down his throat, tasting even viler that he could have expected, though it did leave a pleasant tingling where the pins had been in his throat.

"How long did she say it would take?" He asked her, starting to realize for the first time that Hermione Granger was sitting on his bed and trying desperately to cling to a safe subject.

"Just a few minutes, tougher symptoms up to half an hour and you're to stay in bed the rest of the day. If you don't go see her tomorrow she's going to hunt you down, though, and I've asked Ernie to come with me on the last rounds of the evening tonight, so you have no reason to be up and about." Granger sat there then, staring at him like she needed to say something else, but he wasn't about to help her on. He felt that he knew what she wanted to discuss and it wasn't something he wanted to discuss.

"Then go away." He growled, and lay back down, shutting his eyes and her out with the rest of the world. He felt her weight leaving the bed then and a minute later his door shut behind her.

* * *

Guilty Conscience

Hermione started towards the Great Hall for Lunch with her bag in tow. She knew that she shouldn't have skived off from Herbology, but the idea of being in the same room with Malfoy and Ron had been weighing on her since she woke that morning with a headache brought on by crying herself to sleep. She'd showered for nearly an hour to wash away the feeling of betrayal just beneath her skin, but it hadn't worked, instead it cleared her head and allowed her to focus even more on the fact that she had in essence cheated on Ron. She knew that it would be easy to deny, she could tell herself that she hadn't enjoyed it, had been shocked by his sudden action, had not kissed him back, but these would all be lies, well she had been rather shocked at first, but she knew that she would never convince herself that her treachery was acceptable. Ron loved her, no matter what fights they got into, she knew that one undeniable thing and it should have been enough to stop her the night before. _Why wasn't it,_ She found herself wondering as she had wondered aimlessly after Defense.

When she had reached the classroom that morning, after skipping breakfast due to her prolonged shower, and seen Snape as Eddings, glaring at her with all the usual contempt, she had fallen into her seat between Ron and Harry and prepared herself for Ron's apology about their fight the night before, and the guilt that would come with it. Her preparation was unnecessary though, because the apology never came, in fact Ron ignored her the entire hour, staring at Eddings as if he was actually interested in the Professor's words. Hermione had then looked over at Harry, who had given her a look that resembled pity and then looked away from her, quickly. At the end of class, Eddings had told her to stay behind and thus had given her another reason not to walk with Ron and Harry to class.

"Ms. Granger, How are you are Mr. Malfoy getting on?" Even as Eddings, Snape looked more frightening than the average human being ever should.

Hermione shifted her bag on her shoulder and let out a small sigh. "That is what you needed? To ask me about Malfoy? He's sick, but fine I suppose. His ruddy old self, really."

"For your information, Ms. Granger, monitoring Mr. Malfoy is a job that you have been entrusted with by those who are even more intelligent than yourself, and I trust that you will approach it with the diligence of every homework assignment you've ever had. Please continue to observe his behaviors and inform me immediately if you think he is inclined to do something ... stupid." He seemed less angry about this than would be expected, but Hermione assumed it was because they were talking about his precious pet, Draco Malfoy.

"I'll do what I can, but we aren't exactly best buddies." Hermione informed him, as if this wasn't very common knowledge.

Snape moved a few things from the desk into his own bag and silence stretched between them for nearly five minutes before he spoke again. "Malfoy is unstable, emotional, and terrified of what his presence here means for his own skin. I suggest that unless you want him to runoff and get murdered within the week, after he has divulged some very secretive information to those who would have you dead, you find a way to get to him, and you find it fast." Instead of denying that this was possible, Hermione simply turned to leave the room, and found Snape following her. When they reached the door a slender female hand rested for a single moment on her should and then pulled away. "Whatever happens, Ms. Granger, we must keep him here until the three of you can go out prepared for the worst, and his secrets will no longer endanger you."

After this conversation she had found the prospect of Herbology to be down right ridiculous, and had headed to her Library to read. Snapes words had fueled a new fear in her and she intended to see if the books in this Library may be more helpful than the school's library had proved to be the year before. But, instead of books, she found Malfoy and had then proceeded to be too drained to argue with him, especially when she had discovered that he was clearly ill.

* * *

Cheating

The rest of the week had gone relatively horrible for Draco. Snape was calling him to his office every night to talk to him about some nonsense or another, Granger kept staring at him out of the corner of her eye whenever they were around each other, which was rather a lot as she and the Weasel were still fighting, and he had yet to decide what to do with Blaise and Pansy. By Friday, Draco found that he needed a good break from reality, a trip to Hogsmeade would have been nice, but cheating on his girlfriend came in a close second.

"Daphne." Draco had sat in the seat next to her the moment before and was running a hand up her thigh. "I've missed you."

Daphne sighed in response, but gave his a sly smile that told him she was still willing to partake in his game. "Is that so? How come I didn't hear from you all summer then?" She stood from her place at the table, ridding her leg of his hand, and then walked towards a random bookshelf, which would serve its purpose of hiding them from the prying eyes of anyone who would want to wander past the medieval wand making section. True to form, she heard Draco walking a few feet behind her, no doubt ready to pounce as soon as they were safely behind the shelf.

Her arms across her chest, Daphne turned the corner and waited for him to come up behind her, which he did a moment later, immediately wrapping her waist in his arms and kissing her bare neck softly. "I was busy this summer. No doubt, Pansy told you I was not in her company either."

"I know that, but I thought you were just ignoring her. You could have stopped by once at least." She turned to face him then and he responded by pushing her back against the giant bookcase.

The hands roaming her body stopped then and he looked at her seriously. "Daphne, this isn't like that."

"I know! Do you think I've lost my mind? It's just when you aren't around all I have is Theo, and you are so much more fun." Draco's hands resumed their movements, and he kissed her hard, earning him a soft sigh and the wonderful feeling of her left leg moving up the side of his.

"I missed you, too." She replied then, followed by a silent giggle.

* * *

Choices

"Well look who it is, the Hogwarts Slut himself." Granger sniped the moment he walked into the library that night. He had decided to take this route to his bedroom the entire week to avoid Blaise and Pansy, but it seemed that tonight he should have braved the dungeons. Granger was obviously pissed about something, probably something he hadn't done.

"What are you talking about, Granger." He asked her, falling onto a chair in front of the fireplace.

The Head Girl looked so murderous in that moment that he considered that staying to chat might have just decided the end of his life. "I saw you in the Library today with Greengrass. She is such a tramp and you're cheating on Pansy with her. Is that why she had to resort to screwing Blaise? Because you cheat on her all the time? I mean he told me as much, but I didn't really believe him. I thought he was trying to get me to feel bad for Parkinson, like that would ever happen." Granger finished her tirade and left Draco in utter shock. She had seen him with Daphne? What exactly had she seen? What was she doing in that section anyway? Who was she to call him a slut anyway? Hadn't she kissed him just a few days before in this very room?

"You know nothing about me and Pansy's relationship or what you saw today with Daphne. Keep your fat arse out of it Granger. It is none of your business." She stood then from their table and came to stand in front of his chair, her finger pointing at his chest.

"It became my business when it nearly broke up my relationship. Ron and I wouldn't be fighting right now if you and your girlfriend could just stop cheating on each other. What kind of relationship is that anyhow? Just dump her and pick up Daphne Greengrass if she's who you want. Don't you have any sense of right and wrong at all? It is wrong to be physical with someone when you are with someone else, whether you care for them or not."

"I don't want to be with Daphne, sometimes people get 'physical' with someone because it feels good, Granger."

"That is disgusting." She admonished, causing Draco to laugh loudly.

"You yourself gave into the evils of pleasure from someone who was not your precious weasel boyfriend, didn't you? Certainly you are being a bit hypocritical."

"That was a completely different situation, you started that!"

Draco rose from his chair and they were suddenly close, closer than they had been since he had kissed her. "And I finished it. Shouldn't you have been the one who finished it Granger? Doesn't it eat you alive that you wanted me to keep touching you?" He held out a hand and with one finger traced her arm until she pulled it away, taking a step back. "Perhaps, you aren't angry that I cheated on Pansy today, but rather that it wasn't with you?"

"That is absolutely ludicrous." Hermione put her hands on her hips and stared him down.

"Is it?" He had one eyebrow raised and she knew that he was taunting her, attempting to get a rise.

"It is." And then it happened again. In a flurry of movement that took less than two seconds he was an inch away from her, his breath tickling her lips, his hands hovering over her skin, but he had yet to touch her.

"Is it really, Granger?" He stared into her eyes, which had fluttered shut and then reopened. He felt her wanting to move away, but her need to prove him wrong was winning out, he supposed it was driven on by the fact that her skin must be on fire.

"Yes." He knew that the next step in proving his point would be to kiss her and demand that she admit he was right, that even she needed to light a fire inside of her body every so often, and that person was not always the person you claimed to be your one and only. But the only problem with this was that he wanted to kiss her again. This was when he realized that this was dangerous water he was treading into and if he wasn't careful he was likely to drown.

He let his hands find their targets then, one at her waist and the other pushing her hair back from her face. "And, if I kissed you again…"

"I would push you away." She demanded and he smirked.

"Yes, because you're doing a bang up job of that now." He remembered the feelings that had run through his the first time he had kissed her and he wanted them back. He wanted to feel the things that Pansy and Daphne couldn't make him feel. The things their hatred did to them when they were moving together in a mass of hands and lips and then he remembered the moan that had occurred near the end of their first kiss and he wished he could make such a noise now, because just touching her was driving him insane.

He dipped his forehead down and touched hers, "Last chance to push me away." He felt movement on both sides of his body and her palms shoving his chest. He moved backwards, surprised that she had been able to remember herself enough to indeed push him away.

"I love Ron." She reprimanded him and turned to take her seat again. To his delight her cheeks were flushed and he doubted it was from her fury.

Draco also returned to his chair and watched her carefully. "Silly, Granger. Love is just a fairy tale."

* * *

Forgiven

Only minutes after Hermione had settled into bed that night, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Reluctantly she moved out from underneath her blankets and opened the door to see Ginny. "Hey, Hermione. I'm sorry to bug you, but Ron asked me if I could come see if you'll talk to him."

"Really?" Hermione stared at her, trying to decide what to do. The past week of not talking to Ron had been pure hell. It was plain and simple. If he wanted to talk, she was more than willing to work things out.

"Yea. Don't let him off too easy, you know." Ginny's mouth curled into a smile and Hermione found herself laughing. "I know he cares about you, but he's a right bugger sometimes."

"I won't let him off too easy. I promise." Hermione imagined that this might be a fib, but she grabbed her robe anyway and wrapped it around her waist before heading back down the stairs, leaving Ginny at the door to the sixth year's dorm. When she reached the common room, the first thing she noticed was that it was empty of all Gryffindors but Ron. It must have been nearly midnight, so this was no surprise. The next thing she noticed was that he was pacing back and forth, running his hand through his hair and sighing loudly.

"Ron?" She said softly, careful not to startle him. He turned to face her and she saw that his cheeks were pink, whether from the heat of the fire or his embarrassment at her finding him in such a state she didn't know. "Ginny said you want to talk?"

"Yea." He paused and looked around the room, probably making sure once again that they were alone. "I'm sorry." He said suddenly, without explanation or reason, and it was enough. Hermione crossed the room to stand in front of him and put her head against his shoulder. He was warm against her body and when his arms enveloped her she felt safe again.

"I'm sorry, too. I missed you." She told him, not bothering to move from him.

Ron released her and took her hand instead, pulling her to the nearest couch. They laid down together. Their legs intertwined, their fingers laced, Hermione's head resting on his chest once more. "I wanted to apologize sooner, but I was embarrassed. I acted like an idiot."

"No." She told him. "You were right. You always tell me the truth and I was keeping it from you, not intentionally, but I was all the same."

"I overreacted about you wanting to protect Malfoy from his friends. I mean I still wouldn't have done it, but its part of who you are to keep people from getting hurt."

Hermione smiled up at him. "It doesn't matter, I told him, so no more secrets. I promise, okay?"

"No more secrets." Ron repeated, and for a moment Hermione was able to believe that she actually meant it before she remembered that she did have a secret that she was never planning on sharing with him, and she let her head fall back to his chest, hoping that Malfoy would keep his mouth shut.

* * *

A/N: review.

Meg


	8. Ch Eight: Lustful Thinking

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making money off this ….. blah blah blah . the end .

A/N: whee … i'm bored . i wrote the end of this story last night . which is a bit ridiculous because i haven't finished the middle, but it's been up in my brain for so long i thought i ought to write it down . it might change, but I'm pretty sure i'm in love with it .

* * *

Irritation

As September turned into October, things in Hogwarts turned in some ways for the better and in others for the worse. Classes for the fifth and seventh years were increasing in difficulty and therefore requiring more of the students time to study and practice. However, none of the students in Hogwarts were as adamant about their study time as the Head Girl, Hermione Granger. She seemed to be exactly what everyone imagined she would be when this year had finally arrived. Unknown to the student body at large, the schedule she was now following went further than simply providing times for going to classes. She had added slots for performing her duties, studying, time with her boyfriend, planning for the Yule ball, and personal hygiene.

To an outsider, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley seemed to be carrying on very well, and many of their classmates thought they were the perfect couple. They were seen bickering around school on occasion, but this was par for the course when it came to these two, so no one worried much. But, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley themselves knew that something was wrong. Hermione knew that she was spending the majority of her time on her studies, and that it was unorthodox to schedule time with her boyfriend, but it was necessary so that she could stay on top of her game. Ron however did not feel that it was normal in any stretch of the word to schedule time with his girlfriend, and was growing continuously more frustrated that his relationship seemed to be more like going to class than falling in love.

Not that the time they spent together was not wonderful, it was the time they spent apart that racked on his nerves. In fact, the time they spent together were the best hours of his week. He enjoyed being in his girlfriends presence, especially when they spent time by the lake with Harry and Ginny, or when they talked about how completely ridiculous McGonagall was being over breakfast, and he very much enjoyed the time they spent in his room, getting to know each other's bodies in ways that Ron had never imagined. It made for a good break from classes, to be sure. They hadn't 'gone all the way' yet, but they had been talking about it with increased interest, and they both assumed that one of these days, they would lose all sense of being able to stop and it would happen. Ron wasn't really concerned about that, there would be all the time in the world for that after Hogwarts, all he really needed right now was his girlfriend to show an interest in him, without it being a timeslot on her schedule.

Something that did bother Ron, along with the scheduling of their rendezvous', was the time Hermione was spending with Draco Malfoy. He had yet to mention this too her, as he didn't want to upset her by bringing up the very reason for their last argument, but his irritation was growing, and it was not likely that he would be able to remain silent for long. Between Head Duties, Rounds, Planning the Yule Ball, and Arithmancy Homework, Hermione was spending most of her nights with the other boy in their Library or wandering the castle looking for troublemakers, and this did not sit well with Ron.

With the arrival of the announcement that the first Hogsmeade weekend was going to be the final weekend in October, Ron's irritation was placated with the knowledge that he would soon have one Malfoy free day with his girlfriend and their friends in town, followed by a delicious dinner in the Great Hall, and hopefully some alone time in his room.

* * *

Arithmancy Work

"This is bloody impossible." Draco moaned, letting his head fall onto the table, his eyes squeezed shut tightly.

Hermione smacked him on the head and waited for him to look up at her. "It is not impossible. Professor Vector is well aware of our abilities and as such has deemed us worthy of this assignment. The fact that you claim it is impossible is a reflection on your own self worth and nothing else. I've charted the first half of the,"

"Granger," He cut her off mid sentence and she stared at him, clearly peeved. "You're being an absolute bore. We've been doing these Arithmancy sessions two hours a night for the past week. I have Quidditch you know? I mean I happen to know first hand you do romp with Weasel so go off and romp once in awhile so that I can shower after practice! I smell like mud and sweat. It's repelling. Aren't you repelled Granger? I need to shower!"

Hermione crossed her arms and gave him her best glare. "How do you know anything about Ron and I?"

Her voice was sharp, and normally he would ignore her and go off on a tangent to avoid explaining that he had seen her and Weasel on more than one occasion. But this was not a normal situation. He was dirty, angry, and ready to fight for his right to take a shower. "Granger, I have had the unfortunate luck to be aware of your romping with Weasel on three occasions, so I know."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was blushing now, and this made him smirk.

"One," He held up a finger, "I was sitting by the lake minding my own damn business and you and Weasel stomp over, talking about me mind you, and then you start romping."

"Two," Another finger, Hermione's blush had grown darker. "I come up the stairs from my bedroom to get in some studying, and I find you and Weasel going at it against the wall. I grabbed a book from this very table and went back to my room and neither of you even came up for air."

"And, Three," A third finger was held up and Hermione had put her hand over her eyes. "I go out to the Quidditch Pitch last Sunday Afternoon, a half hour after the Gryffindor time slot is over to practice, and find you and Weasel in the grass rubbing all over each other. It is indecent Granger. We have beds for a reason; maybe you should learn to use them."

Hermione didn't talk for a full three minutes, so Draco waved his hand and told her, "Don't be embarrassed Granger, just stop being so openly gross about your relationship with the Weasel. I mean really, we got to see enough of him when he was dating Brown, I thought you at least had more class than that bimbo. All I'm saying is you seemed to enjoy being attacked by him, so go be attacked after my Quidditch Practice for fifteen minutes and then meet me here, so that I can shower."

"I have a very strict schedule, Malfoy, and if you can't handle it, maybe you should find yourself another partner. Perhaps this time you can find someone who wants to be your partner."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and Hermione crossed her arms again. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen, so maybe you can be just a little less psycho head girl and a little more human. Try being a bit flexible. Have you done a single thing that wasn't on your schedule in the last three weeks? I mean do you have certain times for showering and going to the loo, or do you let that just happen naturally?"

"Just because I am organized and orderly does not mean I am not flexible, just last week Harry asked me for help with an essay and I rearranged my evening to accommodate him."

"Wow. You live the exciting life all right. I wish I was more exciting like you are."

"You are hopeless. We aren't going to get anything done." With a slam of her book, Hermione was out of her chair and stuffing her things in her bag again. "Go get your shower and we'll resume tomorrow."

He rose from his seat as well, not bothering to grab his school work from the table, and moved to her side. "You know, if you are so stuck on this schedule, you could just join me in the shower, and we could talk Arithmancy there." Draco wished he could convince himself that he was saying this purely to annoy her, but part of him knew that he wanted nothing more than for her to accept his offer.

"I'm sure Daphne would love to join you in the shower. Unlike you, my relationship means something to me, and I'm not going to go sleeping around with you." Hermione started towards the door of the library, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. For a second she thought she had actually hurt his feelings, but then she realized he was only frowning.

"Daphne and I don't ever get around to much sleeping. I'll only be twenty minutes in the shower, Granger. We can continue working when I'm done if you like. I just need to bathe, that's all I'm asking."

* * *

Yule Tides

Draco was very disappointed indeed to see that Flitwick and Slughorn both were hardly able to contain their excitement at their first meeting concerning the Yule Ball. They had been his last hope at achieving some sanity concerning this ridiculous plan of McGonagall's. He thought it would be just as efficient to ban the students from leaving the school over break this year. It would provide basically the same effect, with a little added anger and resentment, which was always nice around Christmas.

"I've been going through a lot of the old information about the Yule Ball, and it is a really interesting tradition. Each year they have been different …" Her excitement made Draco want to run and hide, well, even more than he had already wanted to run and hide. Watching her was like he imagined McGonagall would be on acid. Ugh. As she spoke, he caught a few words, but generally spent the time staring at her lips, unconsciously. She kept licking them when she paused for breath and it was making him stare. He couldn't help it, especially when she bit the bottom one when Professor Slughorn interrupted her to add something that probably was just as ridiculous as what she was saying.

Draco wouldn't have know, because he wasn't about to listen to Slughorn anymore than he was listening to Granger. He wasn't even going to stare at Slughorn's lips. They weren't nearly as red or full or round as Grangers. He thought for a moment how totally disgusting it would be if it he was imagining the way Slughorn tasted, or how his body felt against his own. It made him want to vomit, so he pushed this thought aside and returned to his previous thoughts, which were centered around one Hermione Granger. It had become a trend lately.

Draco had found himself wondering if the feeling he had was how it had been for Blaise and Pansy. They had kissed once, put it behind them, and then let the memories eat at them until they cracked and had their way with each other. The only problem Draco could find with this scenario was that the girl whose lips he was obsessed with had given him no sign of returning his desire to taste her once again. When he had asked her to shower with him, he had known that she would decline, but it did provide for some excellent fantasy material as the water had poured down on his back. He had relieved some of his frustrations that day with his eyes closed, his hand wrapped around his favorite part of his anatomy, imagining that it was her hand gliding up and down his skin, making him moan.

He had to get a grip. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes, hoping to rub away the visions of Granger soaking wet, her head bent in ecstasy as he pounded into her under the hot water of their shower. It was most likely a side effect of his recent break in sexual relations that had brought on these absurd fantasies. He had barely touched Pansy since discovering her little secret, and as for Daphne, well he had taken to ignoring her, though he wasn't sure why. She would be very willing to help him with any problems he had.

"Mr. Malfoy?" He looked up and into Flitwick's ugly mug to see the tiny professor looking at him, along with Sluggie and Granger.

"Sorry, there was something in my eye." He mumbled and Hermione bit her lip again, which made him want to groan in protest. It was hardly fair that she should be able to taunt him in such an innocent way.

"We were discussing the seating arrangements. We would like your input." Slughorn grunted sounding jovial and delighted. Pig.

Draco moved a strand of hair from his eyes and sighed. "I think that I don't really care about seating arrangements and Ms. Granger here already has a wonderful idea cooked up, so why ruin it." He tried to sound nice, but he had never really pulled off 'nice' very well.

"Mr. Malfoy, as Head Boy the planning of this event is one of your duties, you should be honored that the school has placed such a responsibility in your hands." Draco's only thought was that Flitwick should stick to flying around his classroom and leave the inspirational speeches to someone slightly more realistic, like Snape or perhaps Voldemort.

Hermione was giving him a look he didn't really care for. It resembled pity. "Do you think we should assign seating or leave it to the students to decide for themselves?" She asked, though she had to know what his answer would be. They would be absolute idiots if they tried to assign a bunch of teenagers' seats and then expected them to actually sit according to their plan.

"I think we should let them decide for themselves." Draco muttered, wondering if she had only asked him the stupid question to get Flitwick and Slughorn to leave him alone. Whether this had been her intention or not, this was the effect it had.

When Flitwick and Slughorn left twenty minutes later, Draco pushed himself up from their table and then watched her, bent over a piece of parchment writing notes to herself. He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him. "You weren't listening to a single word I said." She had nearly whispered, as if she had been reluctant to say it at all.

"Sorry, Granger, but I made it very clear to you that I have no interest in this foolish trick to keep a bunch of people I don't care to see ever here an extra month with me." He faced her again, and watched her chest heave as she sighed deeply. She pulled her hair away from her face, spun it in a bun, and stuck a quill through it. Amazingly, the bulk of her hair stayed atop her head. He wondered what it would feel like in his hands again, it had been so soft the first time.

"Will you at least look at my sketches?" She asked, staring at him, her voice still soft, and he thought for a second that he may have hurt her feelings by not listening to her, but then he remembered that the reason for that was her lips, and he didn't feel bad at all.

"Sure." He replied, simply, and moved around the table to stand behind her, and then leaned over her. Immediately, the scent of her shampoo hit him and he wanted to bury his face in her neck and suck at her soft skin while the smell of strawberry shampoo lingered around them. He pushed this away, with some difficulty, and gave his full attention to the pieces of parchment before them. She had drawn…

"The Forbidden Forest. I thought it might be a unique way to use the mystery that surrounds it. Most students haven't stepped foot in the forest, and it still has a mystical quality to it. I thought if we used that basic premise, and tied in winter it could end up very neat. Dark, but with some light shining through. It's hope, you know?"

"Are you still talking about the ball?" He asked, moving back slightly to get away from the silly shampoo fumes.

"Yes and no. It's all tied together I suppose." Her hands made their way to her neck and kneaded her knuckles at tension points, making his hands itch to rub her skin for her, preferably if they were both naked and laying on his silky sheets. "Sometimes it just hits me that it's almost time. That I have to go do these things way beyond what anyone my age should have to do. I just have a hard time making myself see why it matters if I'm Head Girl if there are people out there being murdered for being just like me. I spend all this time on these things, but what difference do they matter?"

Unsure of whether she was actually talking to him or to herself, he was silent for a few minutes, and his nerve gave in. He pushed her hands away with his own and pressed into her skin. He started at her neck and rubbed with his thumbs, soft and slow. He started to speak as his hands moved down to her shoulders. "It's not pointless. It makes the students feel safe when they watch you be dependable Hermione Granger. Whether you like it or not, you have to keep being insanely busy, because you're making it easier for the ickle firsties to cope with the fact that they might die soon."

"How uplifting, Malfoy." He noticed the hitch in her voice and felt her sink back into his hands. He began to wonder how easy it would be to manipulate her into kissing him again.

"You didn't ask me to be uplifting. If you want uplifting you go back to the muggle world and play ignorant. Potter hasn't got a chance in hell without you though, so that will probably only be good for a year, two max, and you'll be tortured and murdered anyway."

"Where are you going after Graduation? You can't hide here forever."

He moved his hands from her and sank into a seat by the fire. After watching her move to sit next to him, he thought about her question. "The truth? I'm probably going to die in some horrible disgusting way that only a sick bastard like my father's esteemed colleagues can dream up."

"Why?" Her voice came out as a croak as she drew her knees up to her chin.

He shrugged, stared at the fire, and then looked back at her. He focused on her eyes this time instead of her lips. She was terrified. "Severus can't keep his secret forever. Don't look so sad Granger, you'll be glad to be rid of me." He was only teasing, to try and take some of the fear from her face, but she only looked more horror stricken.

"I would never, ever … I mean, if you died, I wouldn't…"

He put on a mock surprised face then and clutched his heart. "Granger, if you loved me, all you had to do was say something and I would be yours." He was teasing her.

"Break up with Pansy." Her statement was so sharp, so fast, so raw, that he knew she had been thinking about telling him this for some time now.

"Why should I do such a thing?"

"You don't care about her, and I doubt she has any feelings left for you outside of a friendship. Why not let her and Blaise be happy without worrying about you? You've accepted that you might die, but you can't let your girlfriend be with someone who actually cares about her?" Draco shrugged and then looked down at his hand as he felt hers over it. "It's the right thing to do."

"Are you talking about me and Pansy or you and Ron, now?" Hermione took her hand back.

"I told you I love him."

"You love him so much that you are sitting on a couch with me instead of one with him? Who are you kidding Granger, you schedule time to be with him. That is hardly a relationship. If I was him, I would have broken it off with you ages ago."

"Or just found another girl to warm your bed at night."

"It's not the same, Granger. Pansy and I aren't together out of a great desire to be with each other. Like you said, we don't feel anything outside of friendship. If I really cared about someone, I would be sure they knew it, and I would be faithful to them, unlike you."

"What are you talking about?"

Draco grinned and leaned towards her, moving his entire body to block hers from moving off the couch. "Are you telling me that you haven't had any thoughts lately, Granger. Dirty thoughts about a certain Head Boy you've wanted to touch? To kiss?" She wasn't pushing him away, this was important to him. She did still want him. After weeks of ignoring the tension he'd been feeling, he just needed to know that he hadn't been alone. "Do you think about me at night when you're all alone? Do you touch yourself? What about when you're with him?"

"You are being ridiculous, Malfoy."

"Am I?" He moved a hand to rest on her hip and saw her bite her bottom lip again. Victory. "I don't think I am. I think you want this just as bad as I do." He leaned down to smell the strawberry shampoo again and her legs moved onto the couch, under his. "Do you remember how it felt the first time?" He whispered in her ear. "Do you remember how good you felt?" He bit at her ear and she made a noise. "Granger." He purred, letting his body fall onto hers slowly, not wanting to startle her into realizing just what was going on. Their bodies fit together so perfectly, one of his legs between hers, her chest moving against his. "Do you want to feel like that again?" He asked and she nodded, probably ashamed of her answer, but it didn't matter to him. He just needed her; he didn't care if she was ashamed of him as he was ashamed of her as well.

His lips moved slowly over her skin, sucking at her neck and chin before reaching her lips. They lingered above hers for a moment, until her hands touched his belt and the fire of his memories returned full force. Her fingers latched onto his belt, pulling his hips towards her, and he claimed her mouth with his at the same time. She tasted even more delicious than he had remembered and found that her lips were soft as silk. Her head tilted to the side and her lips parted, allowing him to tease her mouth with his tongue sliding in and out with careful precision. His hand slid down from her hip to her thigh and then felt her bare skin at the edge of her skirt.

He'd been growing hard since the moment he had bit her ear, but this feeling of her leg under his hand solidified that he was going to have to take care of his erection one way or another, most likely without her assistance. He made his way back down her chin to her neck, where he tasted her skin again. "Oh…" He heard the simple word escape her lips as he bit down on her neck softly and then licked at the spot, soothing it. He pressed his erection against her and felt her mimic the movement and Merlin if it didn't feel amazing to have her rub against him, even through their clothing.

"Bloody Hell." He whispered as she moved against him again, very nearly causing him to rip off their clothing and start moving into her. He looked down at her then, enjoying the sight of her disheveled hair, the quill had been bent as he kissed her. Her lips were swollen, the spot he had bit her neck was red and she was breathing heavily, pulling her shirt tight over her breasts. He moved his other hand to massage one of them as he went back to kissing her. His fingers began to slide up her leg, under her skirt, to the edge of her panties and he pressed against them to find that she was delightfully wet.

"Okay." She mumbled, short of breath. "Stop." He paused, one hand on her knickers, one over her breast, and stared at her. "That is too far. This was a mistake. She pushed herself back up into a seated position and he took his hands back.

"You've got to be kidding me." He told her, watching her straighten her hair.

Hermione straightened her skirt and stared at the floor. "Ron is a good guy, it's not right."

"Right is relative, Granger. You could always just break up with him, and then we would be free to mess around as often as we like."

"You want to do this again?" She asked, shocked.

Draco shook his head, a grin at the corner of his lips. "I know you aren't very experienced, but let me go ahead and tell you that sexual chemistry like this is not something you find everywhere. I'm a guy. Of course I want to do it again, and again, and again."

"It could get out of hand." The way she spoke made it clear that this thought terrified her.

He ran a finger up her thigh and squeezed. "Good."

"I'm going to bed." She pushed his hand away, gently, and rose to go to bed.

He followed her up and grabbed her, pulling her towards him so that her back was flush against his front, his erection still prominently poking against her thigh. "Good night kiss." He mumbled, and then his mouth was on her neck, biting, licking, and kissing her, not caring if Weasley saw a love bite in the morning and decided to kill him. He was going to die anyway, so why not die in pursuit of a good lay instead of at the hands of a mass murderer who didn't give a shit about him.

* * *

Public Displays of Disaffection

Ron kissed Hermione's cheek the next morning when she got down to the Gryffindor Common Room and she placed her hand in his. Harry greeted her with a 'G'morning' and the three of them made their way down to the Great Hall to find that the doorway was blocked by a small crowd of students. "What is going on?" Hermione mumbled, shoving her way through the students. "Head Girl, excuse me." She made it to the front of the crowd to find Pansy Parkinson with a red face, tears falling down her cheeks, and Draco Malfoy, pale as snow.

"don't know what you want from me." Malfoy was saying, attempting to keep his voice low, and Pansy was wiping her face. "We went through this last night. You're making a fool of yourself." Hermione immediately felt guilty. He had obviously taken her words to heart and broken up with Pansy, and the latter was not taking it well. She wondered if this was because what had happened after she suggested this or if he had been planning this before. Hermione felt a hand on her elbow and looked over at Blaise Zabini. He started moving away from the rest of the students, and Hermione followed him, knowing what was coming.

They found an empty classroom and Hermione shut the door behind herself, not wanting to be overheard. There was no reason to let the entire school know that Blaise Zabini had been getting some from Draco Malfoy's girlfriend. The little scene in front of the Great Hall was going to be quite enough gossip for the next few weeks at least. "You told him?" Zabini's face was void of any emotion.

"A month ago, I reckon around the time he stopped touching her." Hermione told him, putting her hands on her hips, not backing down or letting his much larger stature affect her nerve. Zabini hit his head against a wall of the room, not hard enough to do any damage, but it made a loud enough sound that Hermione jumped. "Are you okay?"

"No, Granger, I'm not okay." He told her, pushing his hair back with his hand, and groaning. "You have no idea what you've done."

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "He doesn't even care. He doesn't care about her, or that you are touching her."

"Oh, and I guess you and Draco are big chums now, and you talk about his personal life all the time?" He meant it as a joke, but Hermione nodded.

"Occasionally."

Zabini laughed then, a cruel, deep laugh in the back of his throat. "What a bloody riot, Granger. Like he would ever give a shit about what you had to say about his life."

"Maybe if you were a little more focused on your friend instead of screwing his girlfriend you would have a clue what his life involves right now."

"Maybe if you could pull your head off of Weasel's cock you would know that Draco is using you. He would never associate with dirt like you for no reason."

"Fuck you, Zabini. I hope Pansy Parkinson screws you over. Even that cow deserves better than you." She pulled the door of the classroom open and slammed it loudly behind her, not caring who saw her leave a classroom where Blaise Zabini happened to be fuming in anger.

When she reached the Great Hall once again, Eddings was ushering students inside and glaring at Pansy and Draco who were standing beside him. Pansy wiped at her eyes and her chest heaved up and down as she tried to control herself. Draco was glaring at her, nearly as sharply as Eddings, and seemed completely oblivious to Hermione's arrival, unfortunately the same could not be said about Pansy. The moment she saw Hermione stop next to Ron and Harry, she lost all control and stomped towards her. "This is entirely your fault, Granger." Pansy fumed, her finger stabbing into Hermione's shoulder.

"How do you figure that one?" Ron's hand made its way around her waist and she looked over to see him staring, a little scared of this crying, angry version of Pansy, but ready to defend Hermione if necessary.

"You saw! You are the only person who knew. You should have kept your mouth shut." Pansy was sobbing between her words and the rest of the students were slowing down to watch her again, even as Eddings told them to be on their way.

"Ms. Parkinson, Calm down. Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, and Ms. Parkinson please go to my office; I will be there in a moment."

"Professor!" Hermione protested, but one look from Eddings was enough to stop her. "I'll see you in a little bit." She told Ron who took his arm back, but kissed her once again before she followed Draco and Pansy. Once they reached the office, Draco stood against one wall, Pansy took a seat, once again trying to control herself, and Hermione stood against the opposite wall. She avoided Draco's eyes which were staring holes through her, waiting for Snape's stupid female butt to come walking through the door.

When he finally did enter, Hermione watched him take his seat. "Professor Eddings, I'm sorry for my outburst." Pansy muttered, sounding embarrassed more than sorry.

"Someone tell me what is going on." Snape replied, ignoring her. "NOW." No one spoke. Hermione finally let her eyes meet Draco's and he was frowning at her, but even this made her stomach flip. "Mr. Malfoy? Perhaps you can explain?"

"Nothing, Professor." Draco replied curtly.

"Ms. Granger, Perhaps your memory is serving you better than Mr. Malfoy's this morning?"

"No." She told Snape, daring him to defy her.

"Ms. Parkinson?"

"Draco and I were having an argument." Draco snorted and Snape looked over at him again.

"A lover's spat Mr. Malfoy? You are Head Boy, we expect much more from you than this."

"I'm fairly positive in order to have a lover's spat you have to love someone." Pansy choked back a sob as Draco finished his reply. Hermione wanted to smack the girl upside her head. This whole thing was so bloody ridiculous. Pansy didn't even like him.

"And what is Ms. Granger's part in this?"

"That stupid cow was spreading lies about me to Draco!" Pansy shrieked, and Hermione looked at her dumbfounded. "Are you serious?" was the only thought that came to mind. "If I was lying then why did Blaise come up to me trying to swear me to secrecy?"

"None of this matters Professor, It won't happen again." Draco interjected, no doubt trying to save himself face in front of Snape.

"Ms. Parkinson, you will have detention with me tonight after dinner for causing such a ridiculous scene. You may go." Pansy seemed to consider fighting her way out of detention, but thought better of it. She left without giving Draco or Hermione another glance. The moment she left, Draco and Hermione moved towards the desk and sat in the chair before it. They both knew Snape wasn't done with them.

"You are going to have to tell your father about this." Snape told Draco, his nostrils flaring "Why would you do such a stupid thing? I don't care if she slept with half the school, I never had the impression you cared about her anyway."

"I think my dear father has bigger things to worry about than me canceling our wedding."

"WHAT?!" Hermione shouted, shocked. Both Snape and Draco were staring at her like she had three heads, but she didn't care.

"What is wrong with you?" Draco asked finally and she sputtered.

"You were marrying her, I didn't know that!" This added an entirely new aspect to what had happened the night before. He was actually scheduled to marry that cow, and she had convinced him to break it off.

"So?"

"So, this is all my fault! I never would have asked you to cancel your wedding. That's just, well it's different." And worse, so much worse. She had made out with someone's fiancé.

"You were right, Granger. I took your advice, but it was my decision to make."

"I don't know what to say." Her voice was soft, too soft, and Draco stared past her at the wall uncomfortably.

"How about you explain what the hell is going on between the two of you?" Snape was glaring again.

* * *

A/N: thanks to everyone who read this chappie and who reviewed the last one . also thanks for alerts add and favorites . these small things make my dayz better . please review ! let me know what you think of this chapter … especially poor pansy . i had a bit of difficulty with blaise because i usually write him as a fun loving sort of guy, but he's sort of a huge ass in this story, which i think is much more canon for him . what do you think? do you like this new meanie face blaise or no?

oh and of course… what of the draco/hermione interaction?

Meg


	9. Ch Nine: One End

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making money off this ….. blah blah blah . the end .

A/N … Sorry about the wait, but hopefully you will enjoy! Thanks to everyone who took the time to review chapter 8 … they were beautiful reviews xoxo.

P.S. (( Something very exciting is about to happen … :p ))

* * *

Chatting

After much convincing on both their parts, Snape agreed to let them leave without detention, but held Hermione back a moment. "Ms. Granger, I suggest you start packing."

She was confused for a moment and then assumed that he wasn't talking about school anymore. "I packed for our trip over the summer." She replied. "We're ready to go at a moment's notice."

"Things are getting a bit tense out there, though I doubt you've noticed between your school work and your relationship with Mr. Weasley."

"I have noticed, thank you, Professor." She was offended that he thought she would let school or dating distract her from the fact that she, Harry, and Ron were going to have to go Horcrux hunting at some point. "I have added a few of the books from the Head Library to our collection, just in case. There is some important information in them."

Snape rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I'm not sure how much longer you will be able to wait before you go. I wouldn't count on finishing the year." This news struck her with a force that surprised even her. Not finish the year? It had always been a possibility, in fact they had considered not returning to Hogwarts at all, but she had never really thought that they would actually have to leave.

"Ministry members are starting to fall, Ms. Granger. I need you to inform Mr. Potter and be prepared for anything. I swear on my life, I will get you out of this castle in time, but after you leave, the battle is his."

"You still don't know what it is we are going to be doing when we leave, Professor?"

"No. Dumbledore preferred it this way I suppose, but I've got a few ideas, none of which bode well for the three of you." Snape rose, walked over to a cabinet, waved his wand before it, and opened the drawer. The box he pulled out was old and worn, but clean. "The book is yours, the snitch is Potter's, and the put-outer is for Mr. Weasley. Dumbledore wanted you to have them. He had originally left them in his will, but Minerva and I decided this was a much safer way of passing them on to you." Hermione took the box, but did not open it. "Ready in a moment's notice." He reminded her, before letting her leave his office.

"So where are you going? Is it somewhere nice and tropical? May I go? I have a huge boat." Malfoy fell into step beside her in the direction of their library.

Hermione held the box closer to her chest, as if she feared that he might take it from her. "It has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't have been listening anyway."

"What's in the box?" He tried next, poking the box, as if this would reveal all of its secrets.

"You obviously heard the Professor, so don't ask me any questions. I'm not answering them. Go back to your breakfast, please." She was speaking in an intense, calm voice that frightened her, but she couldn't talk normally while holding the box containing the last things that she, Ron, and Harry would ever receive from Dumbledore. "Please." She said one last time, and Draco fell back, but watched her until she rounded the corner.

* * *

Hogsmeade

Two days later, the third through sixth years woke early for a Saturday, excitement thick in the air at the prospect of a Hogsmeade visit. Hermione Granger, however, was anything but excited about the day to come. She doubted very seriously that anything good would come of time in the village with Ron, Harry, and Ginny. For the past two days, after passing along their inheritance from Dumbledore of course, she had taken to ignoring them whenever possible by claiming she had duties of one nature or another, and Ron especially seemed to be frustrated by this. Hermione wished that she could approach him about what had happened with Draco, provide him with an explanation, and apologize, but she had no explanation or apology, so she avoided him instead. It didn't help that she had no idea why the late Headmaster had left her a book of children's stories; at least that was what they were according to Ron.

As for her interactions with Draco, they had been mostly safe settings, but she was unable to avoid him the previous night when they had prowled the castle for rule breakers. The first hour had been easy as this was when they found a great amount of their fellow students out in the halls, especially on Friday nights, but as time dragged on Draco became more obvious in his intentions. It started with their sleeves brushing against one another, and then his finger would graze hers, or his hand would reach for a door at the same time as hers. Then, they had reached the Astronomy tower, and after the removal of a couple of Hufflepuff fifth years, he grabbed her hand, without pretense, and stared at her.

"What are you doing?" She had asked carefully, avoiding his eyes.

Draco had backed against a nearby wall, pulling her with him. "I want to kiss you again." He told her, his free hand reached for her hip and she moved toward him until their bodies touched.

"I told you I shouldn't do this." She muttered, remembering herself enough to pretend to care that she had a boyfriend.

Draco slid a hand under her shirt and slid his fingertips up her back. "You are so soft." His lips whispered to her ear before devouring her neck, to which she moaned and pressed herself further against him. "I want you so bad." He admitted, a few moments later, as their eyes met.

"You shouldn't." She admonished, but her mouth had moved over his, kissing him hard.

The next day as she waited in the Great Hall for Ron to finish his breakfast, Hermione could still feel Draco's hands on her body and his mouth on her neck. She knew that what she had started was a dirty, disgusting thing, but for some reason, she didn't think she wanted to stop it. The last two months had changed her, for better or worse, and nothing could undo that. It had started the first night back at Hogwarts when she had taken on his secrets along with those of her least favorite Professor. The moment when he had admitted, or rather explained, to her that his death would be the result of a single slip in the plan; she had begun to see him in another light. After all, what seventeen year old boy could be expected to carry the burden of so many other lives on his shoulders? The feeling had started as respect, not a lot, but enough to give it that name.

The first day he had annoyed her beyond belief when he chose to sit beside her in Arithmancy, thus claiming her as his partner for the year, but also he had made her feel a little flattered. She couldn't help but like that after six years she was his best choice, even if it was in a class of six students. That night he had forgone time with Pansy to make the prefect's schedule with her, a task which she had anticipated he would want to put off for as long as possible. For two hours they had actually been able to talk to each other without fighting or confronting each other and it hadn't been a bad experience. Well, at least until she had ruined it by being an idiot and asking about Snape in the hall. If she really had to be truthful though, he had been in the right that night when he had lectured her about minions, and she had been in the wrong.

Sure, the next morning, and the week following, he had been much less excited about the prospect of a Yule Ball and began to be a prick again, but she expected he had a few other things to worry about at the time, like his wedding and not getting murdered. And then that horrible night had happened, the one she had seen Pansy hiding behind the bushes, while Blaise attempted to sweet talk Draco away from her, and had thus set in motion a horrific chain of events which ended with Draco Malfoy kissing her to test out a theory, and her enjoying it very much.

After all of this, nothing had changed her opinion of him more than the next morning. He had made himself sick, and then let her, a bit reluctantly, nurse him back to health, gather his schoolwork, and reschedule his rounds. If any other student let her do these simple tasks, she would have thought nothing of it, but she knew that they meant much more than 'simple' tasks to Draco, and respected the change, however slight, in his attitude that allowed him to accept assistance from a muggle born.

But, Alas, She had found him slobbering all over Daphne Greengrass in the Library, and her opinion of him had plummeted once more. Truth be told, she had been hurt, nearly jealous, and this had led to their next argument in which she had realized that she wanted to kiss him again, despite the obvious complications which might arise. As much as this discovery made her want to avoid him, it was nearly impossible and she spent the following weeks dreading each and every day, because Draco Malfoy had infested her life. He was in both her Herbology and Arithmancy lessons, her hour long Head rounds each night, her three hour rounds shift on Fridays, and they spent at least seven hours of time together outside of lessons each week between Arithmancy Projects and Head's Business.

It became slowly impossible to hate him for two reasons. First, she had a heat hiding in the pit of her stomach each time she thought about the way he had looked after they had stopped kissing, and second, it was impossible to spend nearly half your week with someone without getting to know a bit about them. Over the weeks, they began to speak to each other with friendlier tones and about topics other than their homework or duties. They had even been known to make each other laugh on rare occasions and Draco even extended sexual jokes her way about twice a week. Their conversation three days ago had been rather ordinary, well until they had started making out, and he had moved a hand under her skirt, waking her to the reality of what they had been doing.

She had felt rather horrible at the time, but she would have thought nothing more than he wanted a quick fix if not for the scene in front of the Great Hall the next morning, which had made her reevaluate the whole situation a billion times in her head. Each time she came to the conclusion that it seemed he had broken his engagement for her, but she lacked the ability to admit what this very frightening thought implicated. The way he had talked to her the night before confused her even further, because he made no pretenses. Instead Draco had told her point blank that he wanted her, repeatedly, as he kissed her lips, her cheeks, and her neck until she had finally took a hold of herself once again and led the way back to their Library, where she hurried to her room before he could stop her again.

"Ready?" Ron asked suddenly, grinning broadly at her, and she tried to smile back, as he took her hand to walk with her to Hogsmeade. The trip was unlike any other she had experienced. For one, Ron never left her side, and very rarely let her take her hand from his. He kissed her every chance he got, and bought her tons of sweets and jokes. When they met Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville in the Three Broomsticks for lunch, he put an arm around her shoulders and it stayed there throughout the entire meal. When she caught Draco Malfoy watching her intensely, she felt dirty, unclean, and Ron's arm seemed to be weighing her down. It didn't help that the entire town was in a rather somber mood, and it was easy to see why. Aurors were posted at prime locations in the village and three of them followed Harry as he went about his shopping. Curfew had been moved up an hour before sunset, and several of the shops were hosting 'CLOSED' signs, instead of their usual Halloween decorations.

By the time they left the village at three, Hermione wanted to shove Ron off her, and demand he let her breathe for five minutes, but she suspected that he was only being extra clingy to try and make up for her lack of intimacy towards him. She tried to initiate kisses, and lean in to him, or stare longingly at him, but she couldn't get over the dirty feeling in her heart. She was cheating on him, and he had no idea, he had done nothing to deserve it. When they reached the castle, she tried to make her excuse, 'Homework, Ron,' but he was not having any of it. He pulled her after him, whispering in her ear that 'the boys gave me the room for the afternoon,' and she had no choice but to follow him.

They had been on his bed for half an hour when Ron moaned into her ear, "I think we're ready." He was still in his jeans, and she was lying beneath him in her knickers and bra. "I've wanted to give you this for so long." His voice was husky, deep, and Hermione bit her lips as she stared into his eyes. She wanted to do it. She wanted to reach for his belt buckle, and let him move inside of her. She wanted to know what it felt like to have him inside of her when he exploded in passion and know that it was her who made him feel that way, but something was nagging at the back of her mind, telling her that it wasn't' right, wasn't fair to him.

"I can't, Ron." She whispered. "Not right now."

"But, Hermione, I know this is it. You and me, forever. Right?" He moved to his side, sliding one hand up her body as he spoke and she sighed, softly.

"I don't … I just, I need more time." She pushed herself up and reached for her shirt, which was lying on the floor closest to his bed.

She could feel his eyes on her and then his hand on her shoulder. "Don't leave. We don't have to do anything. We can just lie here together."

It was the right thing to say, the perfect thing. She knew that this was the part where she was supposed to let him take her in his arms and hold her until they fell asleep and dreamed about each other until morning, but she couldn't. So, Instead Hermione rose from his bed, shrugging his hand off and looked around for the rest of her clothes.

"What is wrong?" Ron asked her as she buttoned her jeans. "I'm sorry, really." Clearly confused, he stood uneasily and made his way to her, enclosing her when he was near enough. To his utter shock and increased confusion, she began to cry the moment her head fell onto his shoulder and her body shook with the intensity of her sobs. "Hermione." He whispered softly, rubbing her back, squeezing her closer to him, rocking slightly. "What is it?"

"I just don't know if this is the right time." Hermione told him, moving back slightly, trying to avoid his eyes.

Ron pushed a lock of hair from her face and grinned. "It's fine. We can wait as long as you want."

"That's not what I meant." Hermione was speaking so lightly Ron barely heard her, but the moments the words left her mouth he changed his entire demeanor. His face fell into a deep frown, his hands fled from her skin so fast she thought she might be burning him, and he stepped back from her, as if the extra space between them would make it easier to have this conversation.

"What are you talking about?" His voice was strong now, no signs of vulnerability or love left to soften it.

Hermione sighed again, trying to find the right words. "I just think… I mean, I'm really busy with school right now so I feel awful about not getting to spend time with you, and then I don't spend as much time as I should with Harry really because I know you want to be alone, and I love being alone with you, but were going to have to leave soon, and go out there and do god knows what, and I just want to focus on gathering as much information as I can and spending as much time as I can with you and Harry and Ginny. I really care about you, Ron, really, I do, so much, I just think we need to wait until after we know for sure that everything is going to be all right to get any more serious. This is just happening all wrong, there is this cloud hanging over everything we do, and it's driving me crazy."

When she stopped speaking, she couldn't bear to look him straight in the face, so she found a spot on his shoulder which was particularly freckled and stared at it instead. He was turning red. She could see his blush of fury stretching from his cheeks to his neck. "What?" His single word seemed to be more powerful then the entire monologue she had spewed off to him.

"I think we should…"

"Break up?" Ron finished for her.

"NO!" Hermione said clearly. "It would be more like a postponement."

"I'm not a homework assignment Hermione. You can't make me a block in your schedule or postpone me until your ready to finish. I'm not here at your convenience; I'm a person, too. I thought… I just thought…" He ran a hand through his hair and let his words fade away.

"Thought what?" Hermione asked curiously

"I love you, and I guess, I just thought you felt the same way."

"Ron, I do lo…"

"Forget it. I don't want to know, Hermione." He grabbed his shirt off the corner of his bed and slammed the door behind him, leaving Hermione behind, alone.

* * *

Forgetting

Hermione wandered the grounds for about an hour after she left Ron's room. She wanted to forget what had happened, but instead his words kept racing through her mind so quickly it was making her dizzy. By the time she decided to head back into her room to try and get some work done, she was beginning to wonder if she and Ron would ever be able to make things work after this mess that she had started. She wanted to tell him that she'd been mistaken, that they could fix whatever had gone wrong, but the truth was she couldn't fix it, and neither could he. She didn't know if the timing was off, or if she was too terrified to give herself completely to him with what they were facing, but something was definitely off between them, something that ran deeper than an 'I love you' and a kiss could solve.

"Granger?" She looked up at the sound of Draco's voice, and wanted to scream in frustration. Of all the places he could be, he had to be here, with her.

"Yes, what is it?" She tried to control her voice, but she suspected that it was a bit shaky.

"Nothing, you were going to walk into me." He gave her a lopsided grin and in that moment she stared at him, without blinking, without caring who was around to watch her stare. "I know that I am impossibly irresistible, Granger, but really, in broad daylight? What would your dearest boyfriend think if he saw?"

"Ron is no longer my boyfriend." Hermione wasn't sure why she had told him, there was no reason really, except maybe the idea of saying it aloud making it real.

Malfoy's eyebrows rose in surprise and he glanced around, making sure that no one was around. "What happened?" His voice gave away his cool, calm outside demeanor, and instead sounded similar to Lavender when she knew that you had an extremely delicious bit of gossip.

"I suggested we go on a break." She couldn't look him in the eye, so she looked around the grounds instead. They were standing by Greenhouse four, which explained the lack of human life nearby. Students tended to avoid the Greenhouses on a good day, but the chilly October air had helped to assure that they would be vacant for the rest of the day, unless Sprout decided to visit her dearest friends.

Draco moved towards her and a hand found its way down her hip and into her pocket. "Why?"

"Dunno, timing is wrong I guess." She tried to ignore the wiggle of his fingers against her hip, but even this strange feeling made her want to be alone with him in their library. "What are you doing over here anyhow?"

"I saw you, but that doesn't matter. What do you think about our timing?" His hand pulled her towards him, but she fought to stay planted where she was, afraid that someone, anyone might see them.

"I don't know, I mean … what are you talking about?" She asked carefully.

He moved towards the wall of the greenhouse, bringing her with him, and he laughed at the look of confusion on her face. "I told you Granger, I want you." The sound of his laughter brought her an unexplainable delight, and she let him trace the edge of her face with his free hand. "I'm going to die soon anyway, fraternizing with you is the least of my worries."

He didn't have to talk her into anything this time, instead she moved against him and pressed her lips against his, desperate for the feelings he elicited in her to start burning through her skin. As his hands roamed free, her tongue slid between his parted lips, starting a fire in her abdomen as she allowed herself a soft moan of pleasure. "Draco." She whispered when their lips parted for a single moment. "I want you, too." She didn't know what she was doing, and a small feeling of betrayal had started in her heart, but she pushed it aside, because she knew that she needed to be distracted from Ron, the Horcrux hunt, and the looming deaths of her friends and possibly herself.

Draco bit her ear at that moment, and it was more exciting than anything she had ever felt. She needed to focus on anything but Ron right now, and Draco supplied her with the perfect opportunity. Her hands moved down his chest while his tongue made a circle on her chin. "We should probably go inside." She suggested, attempting to be the voice of reason, even in this ridiculous circumstance, but Draco chuckled at her, causing her body to melt even further into him.

"Sod it." He told her, and the next thing she knew her legs were around his waist and he was thrusting against her in slow painful motions that almost made her wish they could do more than mimic the sweet motions of his body rocking against her. Even through her skirt, the bulge in his pants was making her bite her lip and throw her head back against the greenhouse. "Let me touch you." She heard the words, but they held no real meaning until fingers were tracing their way under her skirt and towards her knickers. She thought for a second of Ron, but remembered that they had broken up, and technically she wasn't cheating, so she put no protest up against the eager fingers sliding into her.

"Bloody Hell." Hermione tightened her grip on Malfoy when his thumb took its place on her clit and he began to massage and stroke her with his fingers, just as he placed soft, teasing kisses on the side of her mouth. She thought it must have been an act of magic supporting her against the Greenhouse wall, because no one could focus on so many things at once, not even Draco Malfoy. His fingers, two of them, seemed to be performing some sort of dance inside of her, bringing forth noises of bliss from her mouth and causing her hips to press closer against his. Just as she knew that she was close, that her body was going to explode in pleasure right there against the Greenhouse wall, she felt his fingers draw away, with one last quick swipe across the bundle of nerves craving for him to finish what he had started. "What are you doing?"

Her response was a grin, lopsided and perfect in every way. Draco kissed her neck once, then her chin, and finally her lips, but ignored her hands, which were attempting to help his own hand back to its previous hideaway. "Meet me tonight in the Library; you can come down to my room." It wasn't a question, but Hermione knew that she would have to make a decision about whether or not to go, and she knew immediately why he was doing it. Each of their encounters thus far had been his doing, his manipulations, or his suggestions, and they had also been unplanned. As long as this remained the case, she held onto her last trump card, but he was asking her to hand it over, and decide to come to him that night with prior knowledge of exactly what would happen. If she went to him, it would be admitting to both of them that she wanted him just as badly as he claimed to want her.

* * *

A/N … So now I can say that this took so long because I hate the break up . It's driving me nuts and I've rewritten it a million times, but this way seemed the most appropriate, so if you hate the break up scene, I apologize, but know I hate it as well.

As for the nice cliffy, what do you think? Will she go? Will she hide? Will she eat chocolate and watch chick flicks for hours and fall into a coma? Well that isn't very likely but possible, … I think ? ANYWAY, review, review, review.

Meg ((hands out wedding cake ((my cousin got married today. i handed out cake. it was awesome. )) ))


	10. Ch Ten: Another Beginning

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: read the other 9.

A/N … Back after way too long away.

Deciding

Hermione had loved Ron for years. She couldn't pin the exact moment when it happened, but she knew that she couldn't remember a time when she imagined her first time with anyone but him. She had broken up with him, but was she ready to give her virginity to someone else? She could still see herself with him this very afternoon, feel him touching her and his soft kisses filled with his love. He loved her. Wasn't that what she always wanted? Someone that loved her and whom she loved to give herself to completely?

It was what she had wanted, but was it still what she wanted?

When she kissed Draco her entire body felt connected to him. It was like she was made to be with him. It was crazy to feel that way about anyone she hadn't even dated, but especially Draco Malfoy. She thought that if she decided to go to his room tonight and be with him, lose herself to him, that it would be amazing, fireworks and all. She imagined that this chemistry that raced between them at a simple touch would become something she couldn't even imagine.

And then she thought of what it would do to Ron.

And Harry.

And Ginny.

And everyone else that she loved to know that she was sleeping with him. That she was shagging him.

What would they say?

What would they do?

Would they still love her?

Would they still support her?

Would they still need her?

It was all she could think about. She had skipped dinner to lock herself in her room and avoid both Ron and Draco. She needed to think. She needed to be in her element, so she did what she always did when life was getting to be just a little too much. She pulled out a book, this time the book from Albus Dumbledore, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and started reading. She had done a little research about the stories and read the book several times already. So far nothing was sticking out to her. She had been meaning to take the stories to Ron. He had already told her that he was familiar with them and she hoped that he might notice any inconsistencies that might be important. She didn't know what would happen now that they had broken up. Would Ron still be able to be in the same room with her? Would he be able to talk to her? Would he still love her, as a friend or more?

She looked up at the clock and dinner was nearly over. Hoping that Ron may have headed back early she set her book down and walked down to Gryffindor tower. There were a few students in the Common Room, but none of her friends. She walked up to the seventh year boys dorm and knocked. Shuffling feet, a thud, and then the door opened. "Hermione?" It was a whisper of shock.

"Can I come in Ron?" He opened the door wider and stepped back. "What are you doing here?" He seemed genuinely surprised and she couldn't blame him. She had broken up with him just hours before and now here she was again.

"I don't know." Hermione averted her eyes from him and looked around the room. It always surprised her how clean they all managed to be.

"Look, Hermione. I love you." He was standing in front of her and reached to grab her hand. She almost moved it away but then decided to see how things played out. "But, if you can't do this right now, I will wait. You are my best friend and I want to be with you. I want to make love to you. I want to marry you, but I don't want you to be with me because you think it's the right thing to do. I want us to both be happy." He leaned in and kissed her and she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I just need us to be okay." She wiped the tears off her cheeks and laid her head on his chest.

Ron hugged her and after a moment backed away. "We're okay." Ron had no problem with their situation because he saw them still ending up at the same point; in love, married to each other. Hermione tried to figure out if she still saw that for them, but she didn't know.

Visiting

About fifteen minutes later, Hermione walked down into the library she shared with Draco and found that it was empty. She thought for a sinking moment that he didn't want her anymore, but her body told her differently. Remembering the way that he responded when they were kissing and the lust in his eyes that afternoon, she knew that he wanted her just as bad as she wanted him.

All she needed was to forget Ron, and in order to do that she needed Draco. The only place she had any hope of finding him was his room so she descended the stairs and knocked. He opened the door almost immediately and looked nearly as surprised as Ron. "I wasn't really expecting you."

"Can I come in?" She asked for the second time that night. There were butterflies floating in her stomach and she could tell that she was blushing. "Yea. Of Course." He opened the door wider and she walked into his room again, paying more attention to the room than to him to try and calm her nerves. It was nearly identical to hers except that the items were his and the colors were different. There was a window on one wall that was clearly not a real window as his room was under the ground. She could see the night sky reflected in its image. Draco moved behind her and she let her body lean back into his.

His left hand moved up her body and he could feel her shiver as he touched her. When he reached her hair, he pulled it aside and gazed at her long slender neck. He could see her eyes were closed and feel that she had relaxed entirely into him. She wanted him to take control, and so he did. He kissed her exposed neck, nipped at her and licked, even tasting her skin made him crazy. He pulled her back into him and pressed his hands against her stomach and rubbed them up to cup her breasts. He squeezed them and the moans she gave him in response were music to his ears.

He turned her around and pulled her towards his bed. He laid her down and just looked at her. She was incredibly sexy laying there with her hair splayed and her cheeks red with desire.

Desire for him.

It was pumping through every vein in her body.

He knew this because it was filling him as well. He pulled his sweater off and unbuttoned his shirt as she watched, taking in each inch of his body as it was revealed to her. Hermione's patience ran out and she pulled him down onto her and helped him finish removing his shirt. Then she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. It was desperate and hot.

She felt his hand roaming up her skirt and pushed her waist up into him. He rubbed at her thigh and she moaned again, followed by a husky "Merlin," into his ear. His other hand was in her shirt playing with the hooks of her bra. He wasn't nearly as quick about getting them unhooked as she would have liked and she ended up pushing his hand away to do it herself. She pulled off her shirt and bra in one swift movement and exposed her breasts to him completely.

Draco stared at her chest for a full minute before he swooped down to suck at her breasts. He took one nipple in his mouth and pulled at it slightly with his teeth before sucking it. Hermione gasped and her hand squeezed her free breast and twisted at her nipple. He loved the sight of her playing with herself.

"That is bloody sexy." He told her and she smiled at him and trailed a finger down his chest to his belt. She unbuckled his pants and pushed them down, along with his boxers. He shook them off with his feet and then helped her with her skirt and underwear.

It suddenly struck Hermione that they were both entirely naked in his bed. She thought back to the afternoons she had spent locked in the dorms with Ron. "Make me forget." She told Draco and he stopped her from kissing him. "Forget what?"

"Ron." Draco smirked and moved a hand down into her folds and moved a finger inside of her. "I can do that." He slid the finger out and then pressed it back into her and added another finger this time. Hermione clenched the sheets as he rubbed his thumb over her clitoris. "Oh, Yes." She told him and her back lifted up of the bed as she arched towards him. He was then over her again and his hand was stroking up and down his self. After a minute he positioned it at her opening and Hermione had a sudden realization that she was going to lose her virginity to Draco Malfoy. "I'mavirgin." She blurted out in that moment, thinking that he needed to know what he was getting himself into, and maybe needed to know to be a little gentle.

It took less than a second for him to be off of her and off of the bed. "What did you say?" He was yelling now and she clutched at the blanket to pull it over her naked form.

"I'm a virgin, never had sex." It was little more than a whisper. She felt embarrassed and ashamed lying in his bed while he stared at her in disbelief.

"Wha … Didn't … I mean you and Weasley?" Hermione finally understood. He had only wanted her because he thought someone else had taken care of the sticky situation the first time could be. She was used goods, and he could use her just the same.

"No, we didn't. I guess I'm not as dirty as you thought I was." She pushed herself off the bed and started gathering her clothes.

"That's not …" He started to talk but he didn't know what to say. She was a virgin? He'd always just assumed that she and Weasley had taken care of that. When he came to his senses again she was fully dressed and slamming the door behind her. He looked down at himself.

Bare ass naked with a hard on.

A very raging hard on.

He ran a hand through his hair and imagined her lying naked underneath him again and felt his hardness twitch. He had been right above her ready to take her and she had to open her damn mouth.

"Bloody hell." He yelled and punched at the wall. He resigned to his bed and stroked himself. He had to take care of his little friend or there would be hell to pay.

Crying

Hermione had tears streaming down her face by the time she reached her room. She had just wanted Malfoy to make her feel good about herself and light that blaze inside of her. She saw their meeting tonight going many ways. None of them had ended with her crying alone in her room.

The worst part of it all was that she still wanted to be down there in his room underneath him. She wanted to feel him move into her and claim her. She wanted to let herself go and just move with him. She wanted to feel his mouth on her again. She wanted to feel his hands on her again. And it wasn't just that she wanted those things, she wanted them with him.

She stripped out of her clothes again. She felt used and disgusting and needed to clean that feeling off. She grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her body. When she finally made it into the shower she let her tears start up again while she soaked in the hot water. She imagined that she could feel the night sliding off of her with the soap.

A/N: Hope you enjoy ! Review please !

Meg


	11. Ch Eleven: Falling

Title: What a Classic Cliché

Pairing: Draco Malfoy / Hermione Granger

Disclaimer: read the other 9.

A/N … Back after way too long away.

Hiding

Hermione spent Sunday in her room.

She was avoiding many things, but more than anything else she was avoiding the two people in her life that were making her crazy, Ron and Draco.

She was afraid that if she was around Ron she would be so mortified by what had happened last night with Draco that she would ignore all the things that were wrong in their relationship and get back together with him.

On the other hand, she was afraid that if she was around Draco she would be so mortified by what had happened last night with him that she would ignore all the things she knew to be just and right and kill him.

After she missed lunch, Ginny knocked on her door and Hermione ignored her, hoping that she would just assume she was sick and go away, which she did after a few minutes without an answer. She knew this was cruel to shut everyone out but she needed a day to hide from the world after everything that had happened in the day before. It felt like a week had passed since she had gone to Hogsmeade the previous morning. Her mind was in overdrive trying to figure out what had gone wrong to make her life this horrible mess.

She felt betrayed by Draco, and by her own mind for letting her think that he would ever be able to really want her. Because, that was the problem she had decided. He didn't really want anything to do with her. He really just wanted to use and destroy her, he'd only stopped the night before because he'd been dealt a blow that was unexpected and had thrown him off course. She was sure that every move from the beginning of the year had been his plan to make her life a living hell, and he'd been very successful.

She had cheated on her boyfriend who loved and worshipped her and then broken up with said boyfriend, and alienated herself from her friends several times by keeping secrets from them and nearly defending him to them. To top it all off, she had been drug down to a place she'd never witnessed before last night by the look on his face when he discovered she still had her virginity and that she was giving it to him.

She felt her stomach turn and groaned. She hadn't even gotten out of bed except for one quick run to the bathroom after a few minutes of listening closely to make sure their library was empty. She didn't want to face the world, but she had to do something because lying in bed thinking in circles about Draco and Ron really was making her sick, so she climbed out of bed and over to her desk to do some work, hoping for relief.

As she pulled out her Arithmancy book, she thought about the way that Draco had looked at her the first time he kissed her. Like the world had stopped and she was the only thing that could make it spin again. She stared at the numbers before her and tried to figure out why she couldn't get him out of her mind. She wanted to forget so badly, but all she could think about was him, and the way he reached over to fix her hair when it fell into her notes, and how he would laugh at her jokes and then make fun of her for thinking she was funny, and how he cared so much about what she thought that he broke up with his girlfriend and now …

Now she didn't know what was going on but she knew that she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Together

As Sunday became Monday and Monday became Wednesday and then the week faded away, Hermione was very pleased. She had spent one of the most uncomfortable weeks of her life trying to spend as much time as possible in her room and as little time as possible with Ron or Draco. She claimed to be sick to get herself out of rounds for the week and found a replacement to walk with Draco. She missed Herbology twice, also claiming to be sick, and no one really put of too much of a fit about it because Hermione never tried to get out of work and also she looked exhausted and, well, sick, as a result of all the avoiding and the stress.

On Friday night she skipped dinner and headed right back to her room to go back to hiding. She had a ton of homework to do, especially Herbology to catch up on, and she was hoping that this would help her keep her thoughts to a dull roar. She was halfway up her staircase when she heard him, and she tried to keep walking, to just push through the pull that his voice had on her, but after the week she had just gone through she didn't have it in her. "Hermione." He said again, and she realized that he was trying to be kind. His voice was soft and he was using her first name. Was it too much to hope for an apology?

"Yes?" She turned to face him and hugged her books to her chest as if they could protect her from him. He was moving towards her and she saw that he seemed to be trying to control his breath, as if … he'd run after her. That was absurd.

"Look," He ran a hand through his golden hair and it fell back perfectly. She remembered the wonderful things those hands could do and sighed before shaking the thought away. "I shouldn't have acted that way. You must have thought I was such an ass. I just, I was surprised."

"And what do you want now?" She asked, still unforgiving and skeptical. Draco moved up the stairs between them and just stood beside her for a minute, she assumed to figure out what in the world to say to her. He did eventually mumble something, but she couldn't hear. "What?"

"I said," He look at the ground and the glanced at her and then at her books. "I miss you."

"WHAT?" She nearly yelled at him and he looked at her like she had lost her mind. She was floored. He missed her? What the hell angle was he playing?

"I just don't really don't have any friends anymore, except you." Her jaw dropped. "I just really miss talking to you."

"What?" She said again, wishing that she could think of something else to say in response to him. He was obviously struggling with this. He really didn't look good and he was staring at her like she was killing him. He had missed talking to her? How was she supposed to comprehend something like that?

"I'm sorry, I'll just go." And he was down the stairs before she could answer him again. She thought about what had just happened for a few seconds and then ran down after him.

"Draco, please stop!" She called after him and he paused at the table. She let the books in her hand fall to its surface and dropped her bag onto the floor without a second thought. "Why did you act … I felt so horrible." She felt a lump in her throat and tried to compose herself before she started crying.

Draco grabbed her hand uneasily, watching her for signs of pulling away or possibly hitting him, but there were none. She was just waiting for an explanation. "I don't know, I mean I just … I had no idea."

"You aren't helping." Hermione looked down at her shoes and wished for the millionth time this week that she hadn't mentioned to him that she was a virgin.

"I just …" Draco then decided to just go for it and see what she did. Worst case scenario she would slap him. He pulled on her hand to get her closer, looped his free arm around her waist, and kissed her. It was soft and gentle. He was trying to tell her everything he was feeling by pressing his lips against her as sweet and tender as he could manage. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked, she was still close enough to him to feel her lips brush against his. "I …" Draco bit her bottom lip and kissed her chin. "I'm … I've never felt …" Her eyes widened at the possibility. "Are you telling me that …"

"Yes." He pressed himself completely against her and kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She didn't know what the bloody hell they were doing but she knew that she didn't just want him to kiss and touch her, she had feelings for him and she wanted more, and now here he was telling her the same thing. She felt the entire world swimming around them as she struggled to find sense of the two of them being together.

Was it possible?

No.

They were so … apart.

She was Harry Potter's best friend. He was a Malfoy on his way to sure death whether Harry failed or succeeded. What if she fell in love with him? Could her heart survive the death of her lover? What if someone discovered their affair? What if … ?

She pulled away and felt the tears welling in her eyes once again. "They will kill you." She told him softly.

"I can think of much worse reasons to be murdered than falling in love with you." The tears fell slowly out of the corners of her eyes and slid down her cheeks until he wiped them away. "I want you so badly, Hermione." His words were a melody in her ears, drawing her close. "I don't care about anything else. When I'm with you I feel like a person, and I haven't felt that way in so many years. I've never felt as alive in my entire life as I do when we walk down the halls together, or as calm as I do when we sit huddled together over an old book studying something I'm never going to need to know ever again. You make me forget that somewhere out there the world is ending and that I'm getting closer and closer each day to death."

Hermione kissed him then and he pushed her against the table, holding her as close as he could manage while he tried to kiss her as hard as he could. The table slid a few inches and pain shot through her back, but the tingling sensation rushing from her lips through her body covered the pain. She sunk down to the ground and pulled him with her. He kissed her all the while, biting and licking at her mouth, hoping to Merlin that she wouldn't realize she was making a mistake to be here with him. He felt her pull slightly away and felt her hands come between them. He looked into her eyes and saw desire and something he had never seen before. He thought it must be what love looked like.

"I really like being with you." She told him calmly as she pulled at the buttons on her shirt, undoing each one painfully slow. "I don't know when it happened but I can't imagine being here on this floor with anyone but you." Draco looked around as if he'd just realized that they were laying in the middle of the floor, and he was about to take her virginity.

"We can't do this here." He told her. "It's a floor. It should be … more than that."

Hermione just pushed her shirt all the way off and began to play with the clasps on her bra. "I think it's perfect." She told him. "I have my two of my favorite things, books and you."

"I hope I'm not really second." He raised an eyebrow at her and she smirked.

"You'll never know." She pulled off her bra and Draco felt his pants tighten around his groin at the image of her beautiful breasts free before him. He wanted this to be an amazing night for her. Ever since she had told him that she was a virgin he had imagined a hundred ways to take her virginity and make it memorable, but none of them had a involved this floor and a bad case of rug burn. Draco grabbed his wand, muttered a few phrases, and watched as the blankets from his bed appeared on the floor closer to the fire.

"At least concede to a blanket." He crawled over to the blanket, beginning to shed his own clothes in the process and Hermione just stood where she was and felt behind her for the zipper of her skirt. When she found it she slid it down slowly and then pushed her skirt down inch by inch. She was left in her shoes, socks, and knickers, which she intended to make Draco remove himself. She turned so that her round bottom was facing him and bent down to remove her shoes. Draco loosened his pants and shoved them as quickly down his legs as he could. His erection was pulsing, wanting so badly to bury itself inside of her.

Hermione walked over to him, one step at a time and as she moved closer he couldn't believe how absolutely gorgeous she was. He couldn't imagine spending this moment with anyone else in the world. He knew that they had been enemies once, disgusted by the idea of being together in this way, but something had changed. It started that very first night when he had told her that he was a prisoner, locked into this position to be watched at all times by the Headmaster, by Snape, and by her. And then the next morning, he had tricked her into being his Arithmancy partner, mostly to annoy her, but they had spent countless hours since bent over this table working, talking, and eventually laughing. He found her enchanting. The way her hair annoyed her when it fell into her face and blocked her book. The way she nervously brushed the end of her quill against her cheek. The way she fell into him when she kissed him and her cheeks glowed red from her passion. The most amazing part of the time he spent with Hermione was that when he was with her he forgot all the crap that was going on outside these walls.

When she reached him Hermione stood over him and Draco kissed her stomach, trailing his tongue across her skin. She felt a shock run through her stomach and fell down to her knees. He kissed her lips then, and ran his hands down her sides, feeling her bare skin under his. "I can't believe we are doing this." He told her and she kissed him. "I know." She whispered back into his ear, pressing her breasts against him. Draco moved back long enough to pull off his own shirt and then pulled her down on top of him on the blanket. Hermione laid over him and kissed him softly pressing her hips down into him. He moaned and looped his fingers into her underwear, pulling them down her thighs, and soon his boxers joined them across the room.

Draco moved Hermione over onto her back and looked into her eyes. He saw a smile in them, and he knew that this was right. This was the way this was supposed to happen. "I really like being with you too." He told her softly.

"I want you." Hermione responded and wrapped her hand around him and began to stroke up and down. "I want this with you right now." Draco grabbed her hand away and held her gaze as he began to push inside of her. Hermione dug her nails into his arms and bit her lip as he pushed through her barrier.

"Are you ok?" He asked and after a minute she nodded, so he started to move inside her slowly. It was unlike anything she had ever experience before to feel him inside her. There was a pain, sharp and worse than she expected, but it was ebbing and now it felt amazing to have him rocking his body into her. It felt like he was becoming part of her. After a few minutes she started moving her hips up into his. "Oh," She gasped as Draco's thumb grazed her clitoris. "Oh, Draco."

Draco started to move faster and Hermione pushed him back and forced him to roll until she was on top of him. "That wasn't doing it for you?" Draco asked rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the ground.

"You know how I am; I have to study everything thoroughly. We'll need to examine all the ways before I can make a fair assessment."

Waking

Hermione woke in a daze, and felt a strong arm around her, holding her close to a warm body. She rolled over and faced Draco with a smile. He was looking at her intently. "How are you feeling this morning?" He asked, kissing her forehead.

"I feel great." She told him. She snuggled into him and kissed him. "It's nice to wake up next to you."

Draco kissed a trail down her jaw. "Could you get used to this?" He asked softly.

"I wish." She sighed and fell back against her pillow. "I don't know what we're doing."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to be here with you. I want to lie in this bed all day and never leave, but I have to go to class, and I have to go be friends to people that hate you so much, and I have to leave soon. I'm going to wake up one day and Snape is going to tell me it's time, and I'm going to vanish. And then what will you do?"

"I have no idea, Hermione. I honestly don't know if I'll be around after you reappear. I might be dead. I might be in jail." Draco kissed her again to try and ebb some of the seriousness but it didn't help, she had tears running down her cheeks.

"We shouldn't be worried about this. We're seventeen years old."

"Look, Hermione, I just want to be with you while we can and when I wake up and you're gone, I will deal with that. You are the only good thing in my life right now and I need you." Hermione kissed him again and sign softly. "I need you too." She told him. "How about we get some homework done?"

"Sounds perfect."


	12. Ch Twelve: Leaving

Chapter 12: Leaving

Disclaimer – They aren't my characters.

Spinning

"What do you think?" Ginny asked Hermione as she spun in a circle.

Hermione smiled and took in the sight before her. Ginny was wearing robes of midnight blue. There were butterflies dancing around on her robes in shades of purple, sparkling in the light of Hermione's bedside lamp. "You look beautiful." She told Ginny rising up from her bed to hug her friend. "Harry will love it."

"Are you sure?" Ginny blushed and patted down her robes. "I want this night to be special."

"It will be." Hermione told her, knowing that her friend was worried about what would come to pass too soon.

"I hate that you're going alone." Ginny sighed.

"I'm going with Malfoy." Hermione told her, trying to sound as nonchalant as she could. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, Hermione. You know what I meant. You and Malfoy are going to show 'inter house unity in time of crisis.' I heard McGonagall. I just wish that you and Ron …" Ginny trailed off and Hermione didn't respond. She and Ron were over and done. She knew this. He didn't and neither did Ginny or Harry.

The reason Hermione knew this was because she was undeniably in love with Draco. She loved lying on the couch, her feet in his lap as they read. She loved waking up next to him after a night wrapped together. She loved when he kissed the top of her head as he sat next to her to study. She loved that he still could make her blood boil in rage as easily as he could make her want him more than anything in the world. They had spent most of the last month in their library or his room. Neither would say why, but they both knew that they were trying to get as much time together before she had to leave and the real world crashed right between them. She didn't know what would happen after that.

On one hand if they destroyed Voldemort and she made it through, she would be free to do as she liked, but would he? What would happen to him? Would he be murdered after she escaped? Would he be murdered by the aurors? Or his father? Or would he make it through the war unscathed on the outside. Would he then be sent to Askaban? Or, would he be set free? Even so would they be able to make it work? Would they want to? Would he want to? And if they did what would her friends think? What would they say? Would they ever speak to her again?

On the other hand, if Voldemort survived and Harry did not and she would most likely be dead as well, so there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Get dressed!" Ginny told her, holding out her dress robes.

The Yule Ball

Draco was fidgeting.

He had never been one to fidget. He had always been good at controlling his emotions and hiding the way he was really feeling from the world. Tonight that had come to an end.

Hermione was in her room with Ginny, hopefully ready or close to it. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this waiting. He couldn't believe the last month and a half had really happened. He'd spent nearly every night with her falling asleep in his bed, snuggled under his arm. She was so beautiful when she slept. He loved to watch her chest fall and rise as she dreamed. He had never known before that she had so many nightmares. She had woken countless times in a frenzy grabbing for her wand. Draco hated that there was nothing he could do for her. She had refused his suggestion to get a nightly dose of dreamless sleep from Madame Pompfrey. They'd had their first real fight over this very thing. He insisted that she needed sleep to be alert and ready for the inevitable and she insisted that she was going to fight through these nightmares, which she needed to deal with her own way.

Draco had never imagined that they would be here on this night. He had expected her to be snatched away from him at any moment, so the thought of them gliding across the dance floor, especially together, had never crossed his mind really. About a week ago McGonagall had asked them if they had dates to the ball. When they had both told her they were planning on going alone, she suggested they go together. She stated that she thought it would be good for inter house unity, but he knew she really wanted Hermione to be able to keep a close eye on him without arousing suspicions. The old woman had even asked them in front of Ginny Weasley to save Hermione from coming up with an excuse for having to go with him. She was smarter than he had given her credit for.

And now, here he was, waiting for her to come down those stairs. He was wearing his best robes and when he looked in the mirror he noticed that he looked better than he had all year. The bags under his eyes were fading and his entire demeanor seemed looser. He imagined that this was entirely to do with Hermione. She made him feel calm and helped him forget the world.

He heard the door open at the top of the stairs and moved over to watch her come down the stairs to him. She was wearing robes of a dark green with silver edging. Her hair was twisted up with tight curls falling down to just above her shoulders. He smiled at her and she blushed. "Too much?" She asked and he shook his head.

"I love it. I'm not so sure your friends will appreciate you wearing my colors."

"I couldn't resist." She told him softly, and then kissed him slowly.

"I can't believe I get to hold you in front of everyone tonight." He told her.

"I know." She let him pull her closer and kiss her again.

"You look beautiful." He murmured, blowing softly on her neck.

"I better." She smoothed her robes. "Ginny spent two hours on this hair."

"Isn't that what magic is for?" Hermione glared at him. "She used magic?"

"Yes." Hermione told him and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh Hermione, You're hair hates you." He told her and she laughed too. "Let's go show that hair a good time. I have a feeling I won't see it that way for a very long time." He told her and offered her his arm. She took it and they walked out of the library and to the Great Hall.

The result of her incredibly hard work, and his very unwilling work, was absolutely gorgeous. The Great Hall was dark as night. The trees were swaying in the wind. There were leaves falling to the floor into the snow that was sprinkling from the sky. The snow was somehow providing light to the room and there were glowing fairies flying around the room as well. There were creatures in the trees, but he knew they were the result of Flitwick's charms mastery. There were tables spread throughout the room, each decorated with a small crystal tree that was surrounded by blue flames.

"It's amazing." He told her.

She squeezed his arm. "Thank you." They moved along the snow free path towards the table where Hermione had spotted her friends. She'd made it clear to him that she had no intention of sitting with his friends on this night.

"Hermione." Ginny jumped up and hugged her again. "This is amazing! You did a fantastic job! And you Malfoy." She added the last part, noticing him coming up behind her.

Draco shook his hands. "I'm not taking credit for any of this. It was all Hermione. I did as I was told." Harry glanced at him suspiciously and Hermione realized how freely Draco was using her name as if it was natural and he said it several times a day, which he did, but they had no idea.

"You look beautiful." Harry told her and he cleared his throat at Ron, who rose and hugged Hermione as well. "You do look beautiful." He told her and sat back down next to Lavender who was shooting daggers at her.

Draco pulled out her seat and she sat down and let him move her chair in. "Thanks." She said quietly as he sat next to her. She then grabbed her menu. "Shall we eat?" She perused the items, the only part of the evening she had not planned. She had left the food to the House Elves in respect and to her it looked like they had done a wonderful job.

After dinner they danced.

Hermione and Draco began the dancing. He took her hand as she rose from her chair and they moved to the center of the room. She felt his arm wrap around her waist and the other moved her hand into the air, and then he was spinning and she was following him across the floor. She smiled at him as he tried not to lose himself in the moment. He knew that they could not attract attention, that their dance could seem friendly, but not romantic. It was so hard for him not to pull her close and kiss her softly as they twirled around the room. Slowly others joined them and it made it easier for him to remember where he was and what he was doing.

After the song had finished another started, a faster fun song full of life and they danced with Harry and Ginny. Hermione found herself laughing as Ginny whipped her hair around her head and threw her arms into the air haphazardly. It was in that moment that she forgot about everything else and began to enjoy the night with her friends and the man she loved.

Good Night

Hermione held her shoes in her hand as she hugged Ginny and Harry goodbye. Ron had said his goodbyes earlier and gone up to bed. She assumed that seeing her dancing with Draco, and enjoying it, was the reason for this.

"We're going to the Room of Requirement." Ginny whispered to her, blushing and Hermione squeezed her hand to reassure her. She hoped that this night was beautiful for them.

"I'll see you in the morning." Hermione told them both softly, as she hugged Harry.

"Night." He told her, taking Ginny's hand and moving away.

The walk to their library was long and torturous. She wanted to kiss him on the cheek and hold his hand as they walked, but that was not possible. They needed to pretend for a little longer that they were friends, but not lovers. As they reached the Tapestry of the Ugly Faerie Hermione threw caution to the wind and grabbed his hand as he opened the door with his key.

He pulled her in after him and immediately began to kiss her. "Oh, Hermione." He groaned softly, placing kisses on her jaw. "I've been dying to taste you all night."

"Me too." She moved backwards into the room, pulling him with her as she snaked her arms around his neck. As their lips fought and they moved back towards the stairs to his room, she stumbled over the skirt of her dress robes.

When they reached the steps, Draco lifted her into his arms and she laughed as he carried her down. She snuggled into his chest and kissed his shoulder. He pushed the knob of his door with his elbow and kicked the door open. He carried her to his bed and placed her upon is gently, moving over her.

"You look so beautiful." He told her, entwining his hands in her hair and leaning down to kiss her. Hermione moved up into him, her back arched, her breasts pressing against his chest. She felt desire rush through her, the desire to feel him bare against her skin, moving into her softly and then hard. She pushed on his chest and began to pull at her skirts, moving them up her body. He helped her pull her robes over her head and she sighed softly as she fell back against his bed.

He then pulled at his own clothes, quickly unbuttoning and pulling and throwing them away from him. When he was naked, he laid upon her again, kissing the top of her breasts. She pushed up into him again, this time so that she could undo her bra and toss it away. At this point she had no second thought of baring her body to him. He knew every inch of her, just as she knew every inch of him. They had made love so many times that she felt his body was an extension of her own.

Draco slid her panties down her long legs and then took one of her feet in his hands. He kissed her ankle and then her calf and her thigh. He stopped at her core and lapped at her, twisting his tongue in and out of her quickly and then tracing circles around her clitoris. Hermione grabbed at his blanket and tried hard not to shut her legs around his head to try and push him deeper.

Draco moved his mouth away and Hermione whined, but he ignored her protests, kissing his way up her stomach, pausing to tug at her nipples with his lips. He then found her mouth and she tasted her juices on his mouth. She moaned as his hard cock fell into position over her, and pushed hard into her center. Hermione rocked her body up into him, unable to keep still as he pulled out and then pushed in again. There was no thought but him in her mind as they continued to push against each other. Draco wrapped his arms around her thighs, cupping her ass as he moved up to his knees. Her legs moved into the air and he pulled her towards him. She felt his head pushing deeper into her and screamed out in ecstasy. "Yes." She pushed with him and slid a hand between them to rub her clit. "Yes, Draco." She rocked back and forth as he plunged into her over and over and then finally he groaned and tensed. Hermione felt him spill into her and she continued to rub at her core, moving closer and closer to release. She moaned louder and louder and finally screamed as waves of pleasure crashed through her body from her center.

"Bloody Hell." He told her, collapsing beside her.

"I think I'm dying." She responded, unable to move.

"That was amazing." He couldn't move either. He could just lay there, enjoying lying next to the most beautiful girl he knew, who had also just given him the most amazing sex of his life. At that moment his thoughts drifted to Voldemort, and he decided he could die a happy man now. "Hermione." He half rolled so that he could look into her eyes. "I'm in love with you." He told her.

"I'm in love with you, too." She responded, "I can't believe it, but I'm undeniably in love with you."

He moved his head closer to hers and caught her lips in a deep kiss.

Running

Snape ran.

His legs were pulsing and fighting him with every step.

He had kicked off the heels three halls back and was now barefoot running through the castle.

He's seen three couples snogging in the halls and hadn't stopped running.

He couldn't stop running.

So he ran.

Waking

Hermione woke in a sweat.

Her mind was racing.

Her heart was beating quickly in her chest.

Her hand flew to her wand.

Draco sat up beside her, wrapping an arm around her naked form.

"It's just a dream, love." He told her.

"No." She stared into his eyes. "It's not." She moved away from him quickly.

Searching

Snape knocked furiously and heard nothing from inside of her room.

He pulled out his wand and tapped it on the door, shoving his way inside.

The room was empty.

She wasn't there.

Where in the world was she?

His mind raced, thinking, thinking, thinking.

And then he saw it.

A brief smile as his students locked eyes.

A pause as they brushed hands accidentally

The fight he had heard about Ms. Parkinson.

Snape ran again.

This time he was running down the stairs and into the library and down again into the dungeon.

He reached up to knock and the door flew open.

Found

Hermione was not startled to see Snape before her.

"I know." She told him. "I'm ready."

Snape looked past her into the room and saw Draco pulling his shirt over his head.

"What have you done?" Snape pleaded, looking between them, searching for answers.

"We fell in love." Hermione said softly, looking back at Draco as well as she pulled her final shoe on.

"You stupid children!" He screamed, turning on the spot and running again up the stairs to her room.

Collecting

Hermione ran behind Snape as he flew up the stairs.

Draco followed still struggling to get his own shoes on his feet.

When they reached the door to her room she saw the portrait was already open and knew that he had come looking for her in her room.

They were through it in an instant and then down the stairs. Snape muttered a spell as he ran, she assumed to make sure the stairs did not send him or Draco sliding down them.

They crashed through the common room and up the seventh years boys dormitory.

Hermione and Snape, as Eddings, woke Harry and Ron. Hermione was relieved that Harry had come back to bed instead of spending the whole night in the Room of Requirement. It would have wasted more time to have to get him there.

"Get dressed, quickly!" Hermione threw clothes at Harry and saw that Snape was doing the same. She couldn't help but notice that he looked more like himself than he had all year. Worry was etched across his face as he waited anxiously for the boys to throw their clothes on.

"Let's go." She ran down the stairs and saw Draco and Ginny standing there. Ginny was in her pajamas. She ran up to Ron as they emerged. She pulled her brother into a tight hug. "I love you." She told him. "I'll let mum know."

"Thanks Gin. Be safe." He gave her a serious look and she ignored him moving over to Harry.

"I love you so much." He kissed her, hard and pulled her close.

"I love you too."

"I don't when I'll be able to …"

"I know. Thank you for tonight." Ginny let go.

"I'll never forget it." Harry told her softly as Ginny turned to Hermione.

"I'll take care of them." Hermione told Ginny as her friend hugged her.

After she released Hermione they were off again.

Fire

They ran to the dungeons, deeper and deeper, until Hermione couldn't tell where they were anymore.

She was sure that it wasn't a part of the school students were allowed. The only light came from their wands.

She was sure there were things down here that would make her toes curl and her teeth chatter.

Hermione stopped abruptly as Snape came to a door. He pulled out his wand and she saw him wave it over his body. He was Snape again. Really Snape.

"What the …" Harry roared and Hermione grabbed his arm to stop him from waving his wand.

"Trust me." She implored and looked into his eyes. Harry looked at Snape and back to his best friend. "There is no time." She told him. "Trust me."

"Fine." Harry pulled his arm from her grasp and looked over at Ron. His face was full of shock and hatred.

Snape pressed his hand and the tip of his wand against the door which vanished before their eyes.

Behind the door was a room with a roaring fire in the fireplace.

"Floo?" Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Yes. This is a special fireplace. It's not on the Ministry's network. It will take you directly to the Black home. From there, you know what to do."

"Thank you." Hermione told him and Snape nodded.

"What am I supposed to do?" Draco asked him.

"You will come with me." Snape told him. "Say your goodbyes. We need to go."

Draco walked up to Hermione and glanced at Ron and Harry. He decided that if he died, kissing her one more time would be worth her friends hating him.

He pulled her close and kissed her. He heard Ron and Harry start yelling and Snape swooped over to prevent them from killing him.

His lips were on fire as Hermione pressed against him, wrapping her hands up his back. They pulled apart and he rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She whispered. "I'll try to …"

"Don't you dare. Just be safe. Move as often as you can. Remember the wards. Don't go anywhere populated unless you have to. I'll do what I can for you."

"Wait for me?" She choked out.

"Always." He kissed her again and then Snape was beside them.

Ron looked devastated.

Hermione stepped into the fire, looked at Draco one last time and vanished.

Draco knew he probably would never see her again.

The End

* There will be a sequel to this story … hopefully … if you want one.

Meg


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